Geraldton to Denham

The city of Geraldton boasts a population of just over 40,000, which, would you believe, is one of the larger municipal populations along the west coast of Western Australia?

We had three nights here, which were, well…uneventful. Not because of the lack of adventure stimulus, but primarily due to the fact that the stopover at Geraldton was a “let’s get a heap of jobs done” kind of stop.

The Prado needed a service and there was some grocery, Bunnings and BCF shopping that was imperative. Luckily, the caravan park provided a swimming pool and jumping pillow for the girls to entertain themselves.

With the service and aforementioned shopping completed, we decided to check out the local museum, which, to our surprise, was a free attraction. We learnt about the natural history of Geraldton, as well as the most disastrous iteration in Australia’s Naval History; the demise of the HMAS Sydney II.

It was hard not to feel an emotional connection to the story behind the tragedy that unfolded on 19^th of November, 1941. The ship, along with 645 of her crew were tragically lost at the hands of a conealed German ship, the Kormoran. The wreckages of both vessels were only discovered in 2008; 67 years later.

We visited the memorial atop the hill in Geraldton and spent some time in silence; perhaps reflecting on our appreciation for the many and ultimate sacrifices of our forefathers, or how war is just not fair? Not sure, but the emotional enormity of the day was felt later on. An early night was needed.

We packed up and left Geraldton and headed north. This time, to the seaside township of Denham. We should have been heading to Kalbarri, but it is still inaccessible due to the after effects of cyclone Seroja. Passing through the town of Northhampton on the way, we witnessed first hand the devastation left in Seroja’s wake. Many houses still had rooves missing and there was a tonne of debris sitting on the sides of the roads, which had obviously been cleaned up by the SES and hardworking locals. Being Victorians, this type of natural disaster is just so foreign to us. I hope they can recover soon and that the insurance companies possess enough empathy to see the human need, not the financial.

A quick detour to Hutt Lagoon was well worth it as we witnessed our first pink lake. What an interesting sight; even better viewed from the air. The cartanoid producing algae are the reason behind the bubblegum resembling colour, which is commercially harvested for a range of cosmetics and dyes; making this the largest harvest of such sorts in the world.

From there, we continued northward, our next stop at Shell Beach; a simple nomenclature for a complex ecosystem. Boasting salinity twice that of normal salt levels, this allows the cockle shells to evade predators whom, despite Darwin’s theories, have not been able to adapt to the salt levels here. Billions upon billions of cockle shells replace what is normally sand leading up to the water, creating this unique place; one of only two in the world.  Some failed attempts at creating sea-angels later, we headed towards Denham.

The following day we explored Francois Peron National Park. With the tyres dropped to 20 PSI, we enjoyed slipping and sliding along the sandy tracks in the National Park. Skipjack Point was a 46km drive in, which took us about 50 minutes, due to the sandy tracks. With a spectacular view atop a boardwalk, we saw dolphins and reef sharks searching for their mid-morning snack. The contrasting red cliffs with blue waters were exceptional and made for some excellent drone photos.

We took the short, 1.5km trek to Cape Peron where we saw a dugong frolicking in the shallows; an exceptional moment for us all. I decided to walk back by myself and retrieve the car as the girls had protested walking any further.

Lunch was had at Bottle Bay, right on the beach, thanks to Sarah's excellent preparation. The girls spent the next hour looking for shells as they were prolific here. With our new shell collection in the car, we continued our tour of the National Park. There were a few more interesting stops along the way, each providing beautiful red sand contrasted with turquoise, blue water.

An adrenaline fuelled moment of being bogged in the sand and needing to employ my secret 4x4 skills later, we made for our final stop for the day, which was at the Peron Homestead. Here, there is an artisian hot tub, with water pumped from over 500 metres below the surface! At 40 degrees, it was balmy, but the girls enjoyed the experience and we got to chat to a few fellow travellers from different parts of our country.

The next couple of days were down days. One day was rainy, so we caught up on some school work and video editing. The next was spent at the local aquarium; an informative tour taught us a lot about the local sea dwelling organisms, which culminated in a shark feed. The girls loved it!

A play on the local playground and some last minute supplies were on the agenda for that afternoon.

A great part of the world here! Onward to Monkey Mia next J

 

Cervantes to Jurien Bay

In the most serendipitous fashion, fate seemed to have a way with testing our reserve, then rewarding us with experiences that we had neither planned nor fathomed. As we began the journey towards Perth, we reflected on the wonderful time had at Margaret River and surrounds. What could possibly top that? If only we knew what was coming...

The putrid stench of the foul reality that COVID-19 has not gone and cannot be forgotten hit us like the proverbial tonne of bricks when Western Australian Premier, Mark McGowan announced a snap, three-day lockdown in the regions of Perth and Peel, beginning at midnight that night. We had literally just arrived at Perth! Below are the questions that I believe we simultaneously were trying to answer.

  What about the Perth Mint visit?

What about Rottnest Island and the quokkas?

What about catching up with our friends in Perth?

What should we do?

Should we go? But where?

In a flurry, Sarah and I made the snap decision to continue north. If I am totally honest, the next 20 minutes or so were not the finest moments for any of us. Charlotte and Ebony were both visibly upset, I was frustrated and snappy, and Sarah had just slammed the caravan door and broken its hinges, also in frustration.

Hold on, team. Time to take heed.

Are we all safe? Yes

Do we have each other? Yes

Can we do Perth another time? Yes

Is the situation as bad as we are currently catastrophising it to be? No.

It’s moments like this, in fact the greater COVID situation globally, that bring out the absolute best and worst in the human race. We’ve all lived and breathed it over the last 12 months. We realised as we were driving out of Perth, just how much we had to be thankful for, and just how lucky we are. The reality is, that you have the power to choose how you react to adversity. It’s not the adversity, but your reaction to the adversity, which will determine the greater long term outcome. So, with that in mind, we headed north; expecting a flurry of cars attempting to escape the city only to be pleasantly surprised by how few there actually were. Word had it that the majority of Perth residents had ventured south.

We meandered north for a couple of hours until we reached a freecamp just out of Cervantes, called Banksia Reserve, just after 6:30pm. The decision was made the next morning to spend the day checking out some of the local attractions around Cervantes and then spend one more night at the freecamp. Fortuitously, we managed to book in to Jurien Bay for four nights at the Caravan Park. Sarah was also able to negotiate a refund from Perth Central Caravan Park, which was unexpected!

The Pinnacles in Nambung National Park have been widely publicised. These unique, limestone protrusions make for some interesting viewing and even better for a couple of games of hide and seek. Apparently, The Pinnacles are still way too young to be considered anything of geological or historical significance in academic circles. The two main theories for the development of these pillars are interesting. Both reference the importance of trees. One describes ancient tree roots holding limestone sand and eventually filling up with quartz sand, which is not affected by leaching. The other describes the pinnacles as the calcified remains of tree trunks from an ancient forest, formed over millennia due to intense storms and a mixture of acids and calcrete. Interesting - I wonder whether either are accurate, or whether it is something else entirely.

The following day we packed up and moved to Jurien Bay, a place not on our itinerary and one we knew very little about. It turned out to be the most amazing place, filled with rich experiences and one that was very hard to leave. After shopping and checking in we ventured to the beach to witness our first real sunset over the western horizon. The sky turned from bright, vibrant yellows, to scarlet reds as the sun descended into its daily slumber. Wow, what a sight. The kids played obliviously in the water whilst Sarah and I went from staring in awe at nature’s entertainment, to madly trying to capture the moment on her phone. We knew we had come to a special place.

Sandy Cape was chosen as our place of exploration the following day. We began by lowering the tyre pressures and negotiating a rocky track towards some World War 2 bunkers. There was no signage on the track, so we continued arbitrarily in the direction that we thought was correct. Luckily, we were right in our assumptions and arrived at the bunkers mid morning. Sadly, the bunkers had been subject to years of scandalous graffiti by those who have as much intelligence as they have respect for our wartime history.

A quick bite for lunch and we returned to Sandy Cape to hire some sand boards for the girls. After a few tries, the girls became more confident and enjoyed sliding and boarding down the slopes. We ended the day by engaging low range and traversing the northern area of Sandy Cape in search of the perfect, secluded bay to cook dinner and enjoy a swim. The four wheel driving required to get to our spot was not for the faint hearted and, whilst I didn’t admit it to the girls at the time, I was quietly questioning my current life decisions. The maxtrax were required for the final part as the limestone and granite rocks would have easily dented the undercarriage of the prado. With Sarah at the wheel and me out from directing, we made it down onto the beach and spent the next couple of hours enjoying our time together. What a fantastic place! Tacos for dinner and the most amazing sunset views made for a special evening.

What could possibly top the night before? Well, the next day proved to be one of our most memorable experiences to date. We had booked in for a swim with the Australian Sea Lions; a tour operating daily out of Jurien Bay. Due to the COVID situation in Perth, we almost didn’t get to go, but luck was on our side this time around. We boarded ‘Mojo’ at approximately 9:30am with a dozen other passengers. We eagerly donned the provided wetsuits and enjoyed the 30 minute cruise out to Fisherman Island; a breeding ground for the sea lions. After a short safety briefing we were able to jump in the water and swim. The next hour and a half can only be described as momentous and magical. Swimming with these beautiful, inquisitive creatures was nothing short of breathtaking. Charlotte struggled with the enormity of the occasion, but still managed to see the sea lions up close. Ebony loved every minute of it, as did Sarah and I. For about 90 minutes, we frolicked, played, laughed and just enjoyed the time with these special endangered species. We simply couldn’t believe how lucky we were to be experience this.

Our final day in Jurien Bay was spent back at Sandy Cape. We drove onto the beach, parked up, swam, explored, had lunch, raced down sand dunes, swam some more and just marvelled at the beauty of the place. Ebony and I took a chance to explore some of the rocky outcrops near the bay and stumbled across a small cave, where we ventured into and reflected on our time in Jurien Bay.

So far this trip, Jurien Bay has been our favourite place. Some real adventures were had here and I am so thankful for this experience. Again, if it weren’t for the misfortune (or fortune?) of Perth’s lockdown, we would never have experienced this magical place, nor would we have swam with the sea lions. Onward to Geraldton.