The Travels Of The RJs

Outbound North Inbound South

Sydney to Perth to Yanchep   8:30am taxi to airport. Book reading in Waterstones with both kids sat on the floor. Plane watching through the windows. On Boeing Dreamliner, Kate on aisle of middle section. I’m on aisle of window section, next to Sienna, next to Seb at the window. I watch Nomadland as a precursor to life on the road, Sienna watches Pocahontas.  Arrive at Perth airport 1:15pm and take a short taxi ride to Maui office which contains Huxley the 11-year-old golden Labrador. Run through of our home for the next three and a half weeks before we head off on our adventure tour. Our first night will be at Yanchep National Park, just north of Perth but on the way we stop off at Woolworths to pick up some supplies after placing a click-and-collect order the night before. Discover here that we’re much too long for a car park space and also reminded of our height as branches brush along the roof of the van. From then on any shopping expeditions see us park at the far end of ...

Yanchep to Cervantes   As might be expected in a National Park, it’s a pitch-black night and it’s also the first trial for kids to climb down the steep 6 stepped ladder during the darkness to grope their way to the toilet. So it’s not surprising that Seb calls out in the night for help down the ladder. Its fresh in the morning with dew on the ground. After showers in the neat sandstone shower block on the edge of the oval and some breakfast – which is still Weetbix and Sultana Bran. Kate finally gets her first tea on the stove stop from the whistling kettle. We venture into the park, with more kangaroos in the undergrowth and plenty of flowering wattle bushes and oversized mini volcanoes from ants digging in the ground. There is a rising boardwalk into a walk-through koala enclosure, though we only spot one of the furry creatures wedged in the branches of a tree. Past this through a gate out on to a manicured lawn, with adjoining tearoom and a lake with overgrown hedges on the edge...

C ervantes   Wind and rain through the night, feel sorry for those campers in the “prime” tent spots next to the sand dune and beach where the wind whips in off the Indian Ocean. As we do each morning, we pack away the bed Kate and I sleep on at the back of the van, whilst the kids bed up above the driver seats remains untouched. The pair of 2 seat sofa seats facing each other in the middle of the van, which can become the third bed, we only use for fold out table as a dining space, or the table is folded away whilst travelling and the kids sit by side in their hired child seats. After breakfast we walk, with an unwilling Seb to the town centre – which is in fact a general store, bottle shop, post office and tavern. Thankfully a playground cheers Seb up and he runs through a field to test it out. Wander back to the campsite for morning tea; jam on toast. Brief rain showers but the ongoing wind ensures the rain clouds pass quickly. Ready ourselves for the Pinnacles, or the Pimpicles...

Cervantes to Geraldton   Despite booking three nights at Cervantes RAC Park we decide to abscond a day early as the forecast is overcast and, well, that’s what nomads can do; move as they please. If it was 40% full when we arrived, it is under 20% when we leave – have others travelled back to Perth after a long weekend or carried on North like us? Just 25km up the road we stop at Jurien Bay just to add a souvenir coin to Sienna’s collection (Animal?). From there Seb is quickly asleep whilst Sienna quietly mulls the view. The road is single carriage, but a wide strip of red earth borders the bitumen. But beyond that it’s a moving vista of green fields, not unlike Sydney’s National Parks, not yet the red expanse you might expect. There are also many imposing sand dunes on the inland side of the road as we snake up the coast. There’s a morning tea stop next to a beach disturbing the one other caravan who were probably hoping for the space to themselves. As we approach Geraldton after ...

Geraldton to Kalbarri   Wake up in port car park. 8:15am drive to Hutt Lagoon, or, as its more commonly called Pink Lake, which is 1 ¼ hours North West. Sienna upon seeing this pink lake exclaims “why have we come all this way and its blue?”. In her defence, the strong pink tint is best visible when at the same height as the water surface. We walk up and down, remove shoes and socks and dip our toes in. This increases to kicking the water and then to stone throwing. Somewhat inevitably, Seb falls in. We continue North, stopping at Blue Holes beach, which on a calm summer’s day would be extremely picturesque. However, the wind is up and the waves are crashing on to the beach – there are a couple of hardy surfers out in the deep which we watch from the wind-shade of our van as we eat lunch. At 1pm we drive through Kalbarri, another gold coin collected and location of tonight’s campsite, and on another 30km to Z Bend Gorge. We walk the 600metres down a well-trodden path through shrubl...

Kalbarri to Monkey Mia   We’re already at the point where you wake up and wonder what seaside village or National Park “town” you’re in. Kalbarri is the answer, which, after the sights seen yesterday, was well the detour off the highway. 4½ hours looming on the road ahead so we run to the pirate playground on the river’s edge before the pelican feeding at 8:45am outside our caravan park. Today is a lesson in nature as the pelicans decline to turn up and instead Sienna is one of half a dozen kids tasked with throwing small fish in the air which the grateful seagulls switch over and snatch away. Whilst the caravan park was full last night in the morning there is a steady constant stream of campervans and caravan exiting and continuing their migration North. Its fresh in the mornings with the promise of rain so we’re wearing shorts but with jumpers as the order of the day. We’re up and away by 9:30am and after the morning’s fresh air the kids fall asleep, allowing us to drive for 3 ho...

Monkey Mia   As we’ve discovered when driving in windy conditions, there’s no escaping the fact you’re in a 7m long, 3.5m high steel box. So we could tell upon waking that it was more than a little windy outside. Whilst a few early risers were packing up and heading out, we made our way to the dolphin feeding that has defined and made this spot an attraction. Our resort has unpowered sites, powered sites, powered en-suite sites, dorms, family rooms and differing levels of chalets all catering to those wanting to view the dolphin feeding (and access some nearby 4WD off-roading). Begun in the 1970’s this ritual attracts those making the drive North or South, despite the 3-hour detour. Approximately 180 people line the foreshore as today two mother and calf some in, take a look at the crowd, mooch around, chase a fish until a couple of viewers are plucked from the crowd to hand a fish to the dolphin. The feeding can occur up to three tines a day, but its monitored which dolphin gets w...

Monkey Mia to Carnarvon   Second morning at Monkey Mia and with 4-5 hours driving head and targeting a Seb morning nap, we forgo the first, busier dolphin feed and pack ourselves up, drive over to the car park and loiter for the second feed of the day. (The toilet / shower facilities here are the best so far, as good as any corporate office or gym). It’s not long till the call goes out over the tannoy that the dolphins have reappeared – about 30 folk traipse to the beachfront next to the small jetty jutting 30 metres out to see form which sightseeing boat tours head off thrice daily. We listen to the almost exact same spiel as the day before on the dolphins – the markings that tell them apart; the scars on baby or fins from sharks – and with a trepidation the nervous volunteers appear with their metal buckets which they wave in the water, before turning and rejoicingly they pick Kate (they didn’t come across as people; it was seemingly a weight upon their shoulders to pick someone ...

Carnarvon to Point Quobba   A cold morning again 6 degrees, with the promise of sun and 21 degrees later in the day. This temperature seems to be the norm for us, but it feels warmer than this when outside, though a noticeable chill as soon as the sun sets. Comparable to a decent English early September day. Our third Woolworths Click & Collect is between 8-9am; these have really saved time and the angst of pushing everyone around the supermarket for an hour each time. The practical requirements of a campervan means we also need to find some chemical sachets from Mitre10 to help keep the portaloo/camp toilet fresh-ish. This has to be emptied manually – involving pulling the lower tub out from the outside of the van and then pouring it down an over-sized drain, these have been available at all camp sites and on the edges of towns we’ve been to so far. Not the most pleasant task but after two children’s worth of nappies and two dogs for 8 years, it’s not as painful as others may ...