Stirling waves

Driving through the Stirling Ranges National Park reminded me of my first trip to New Zealand with the alpine setting of low scrub and beautiful vistas through mountain passes. We spent a luxurious day driving the range and taking photos while quickly jumping back in the truck as it was cold and windy!

Camp that night was on the other side of the range at Moingup

Springs with a view of the Toolbrunup peak. We arrived unusually early for an end to our travel days and I wondered how Matt would occupy himself. But alas, he found a golf club at the campsite - even left handed! He went about finding enough karri tree nuts to use as balls and whittled one down as a tee and away he went knocking them straight out to the mountain top!

A beautiful sunset on the peak and we were off to sleep to prep for our morning hike. It was meant to be Bluff Knoll as the largest peak in the south of WA but the peak was covered in clouds so we opted for Mt Trio closer by and gleaming in the sun. It was perfect hiking weather in the brisk wind with sun and clouds mixing perfectly enough to keep us warm and not sunburnt. A Skype video call with the folks from the summit and back down the way we came (via a very steep descent).

After the hike, we were destined for Wave Rock - a granite

mound formed in the shape of one giant wave. The journey there was through the Australian wheatfields on every dirt track we could find. Our only other vehicle sightings in 3 hours were farmers or silos on the move at harvest time - it was a good day!

The last 10km to Hyden was a locust swarm with one lodging itself straight in the bulls skeleton nostril on the front of Albert. We had the same swarm heading back out of town the next day - something about harvest and the weather timing.

The drive back to the coast from Wave Rock had a mirror goal of dirt, but this time slightly further east we had Dragon Rocks Nature Reserve and Frank Han National Park as our journey.

As for Wave Rock itself, a giant rock in the shape of a wave. We surfed it

and left. The town has implemented an interesting way to collect drinking water with a cement wall at the top of the rock's edge which feeds into a dam on the other side of the rock - inventive indeed for this rustic town.

Wine among the giants

Ahh, after what seems like ages of boxed wine, we have arrived at the beautiful, magnificent region of the real red liquid of the gods! Welcome to Margaret River. And just a side note -Margaret River was another stop where we missed the actual town all together. The other time was our stay in Fremantle and never getting into Perth. 

Not only is this area a welcome respite for our taste buds, but it's amazingly beautiful with the landscape having clearly changed from the dry yellow to the lush green hills with tall karri tree forests like giants guarding the vines. Then you have the coast with white sandy beaches and a cave system as well.

We started easy with just a couple winery stops and a brewery, then drove up to Eagle Bay before heading back to Caves Road and finding our camp at Yallingup Beach for the night. The next day was a grand day of about ten winery stops before setting up camp among the karri trees in the Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park. Thank goodness Matt was driving!

Our two bottle a day limit was a catastrophic failure and I'm thrilled for it. We collected a lovely collection of reds and agreed that because of our weight limit in the truck, we had to drink them daily and immediately! Ahhh!

The collection included:

• Flametree Shiraz 2012 
• Credaro Estate Cab Sav 2009 
• Windows Estate Cab Merlot 2011  
• Driftwood Sparkling Shiraz 
• Pierro Fire Gully Cab Sav Reserve 2004 
• Juniper Estate Tempranillo 2012  
• Briarose Estate Cab Sav 2005 
• Blackwood Meadery Blackberry Nip and a couple honey beers 

By the time I've written this, we only have 2 bottles remaining!

But they have been thoroughly enjoyed - bring on the Adelaide wineries!

Out of hundreds of caves in the area, only 4 are open to the public so we visited Mammoth Cave as it is the only one you can self guide. The system was beautiful to wind your way through and out the other side to walk through the forest and plethora of wildflowers and orchids before back to the start.

We made it to the southern tip before rounding up and over towards Denmark. Luckily the waters were cold and Matt doesn't have his boards as a couple days after we left the area, a surfer was taken by a great white.

Pinna-COOL!

Wow! Playing catch up with some trip updates but this one was super cool - the Pinnacles are a crazy desert of worn limestone structures created over time that pop up all around looking like a series of tiki stumps or a random stonehenge.

The national park has a road that traverses through the area, allowing you to enjoy the pinnacles from the safety of the car (the flies were abysmal). It's only a short drive, about 3 km, so we did it twice, jumping out quickly to capture a picture of two.

The other attraction of the area is in the nearby town of Cervantes where we treated ourselves to the west coast lobster (crawfish). Quite yummy but still nothing beats Maine lobster, especially from Cranberry Island!

We did have some pretty beautiful down the coast but we were on a mission for Perth. One stop that deserves a photo though was a camp north of Cervantes tucked in the dunes called Sandy Cove Recreational Park.

Then on to Perth. Who visits Perth and never enters the city? We did. We spent a week in Fremantle getting a new tray for Albert and a general service to keep him going. It appears the tracks we've conquered thus far have taken a beating to the aluminum tray on the back of the vehicle so we upgraded from a 1 tonne tray to a 3 tonne one, then back on the road we went.

Crazy mental winds

They are not actually that bad today but what Western Australia has become unfortunately famous for is this crazy mental wind! You cannot escape it at this time of year but I'm not a fan. What it does keep away are the pesky flies which come out for a couple weeks (now) during the season change. Having said that, we have been to some pretty beautiful spots since my last update - Pt Quobba, Hamelin Station, a little 4wd-ing in François Peron National Park, and a drive down the coastal road through Kalbarri National Park.

At Point Quobba, we had our own beach spot tucked in the safety of the dunes. With a protected fire place, we also enjoyed cooking on the open flame again. This area had blowholes on the cliff's edges, sandy beaches, and beautiful coral swims as well. Our overnight stop turned into 4 and we left just before a marine wind warning was put in place.

A top up in Carnarvon for the night and on to Hamelin Station which is a working sheep station at the beginning of the World Heritage Drive into Peron NP. We used this as base for our journey into the rest of the area. The farm itself is hydro-powered by the water source on the property which results in this beautiful lake in the midst of rocky desert. The next day, we drove all the way to the tip then taking our time to stop at the sights on the way back.

Skipjack Point was a thriller to see all the way along the Shark Bay and peer down to see marine life including dugongs (manatees), rays, and heaps of fish! At Gregories, Matt caught dinner of a flathead on the first cast after a couple there said there was nothing to be seen. The drive was fun through some sandy bits as well as clay flats and bush. We stopped at the Eagle Bluff Lookout where the winds nearly carried us away then Shell Beach for a swim. The beach is made up entirely of one type of cockle shells and has scientists puzzled on how it happened.

Last stop before sunset was the stromatalites which are among the oldest organisms in the world. Not sure what I expected but they are stump shapes in the low water that don't seem overly exciting but their story is, so we took some great sunset pictures and returned to camp to find two couples we'd met along the way to share dinner and a few drinks at the station's kitchen.

Kalbarri was next up with some gorge walks and coastal beauty. We stayed in town which is nestled on the coast between the national park. We did a couple walks in the park and found waterholes that although probably fine, we opted to enjoy the view and not a swim. Then walked up to the Nature's Window for the

required photo and decided not to do the 8k loop walk on the gorge as the temps were high and our hiking feet tired.

The coastal section of the NP is stunning with cliff edges, drop offs, and layered rocks. We ventured down with stops at Red Bluff, Pot Cove, Natural Bridge, Grandstand and Shellhouse.

I'm writing from Sandy Cove Recreational Park where we'll stay for 1 or a few nights before the Pinnacles and then Perth for maintenance of the truck and probably a new tray.

I met a prince!

I thought it deserved its own title but only a quick story. We did meet a prince and leave and enter Australia on the same day - even got our passports stamped. This was all done in the PHR, Principality of Hutt River. You can check out more info on Wikipedia or the PHR website.

Prince Leonard created his principality in 1970 when he was tired of the Australian Government telling him how much wheat he could or could not grow on his own land. The short story is he created his own empire and therefore does not have to pay taxes to Oz.

He's 88 now and full of smarts so he seems to be able to talk his way into anything. He has a museum of artifacts and honours countries have bestowed on him, including a sword from King Carlos of Spain. There's also a post office with his own stamps and currency, a chapel, and a stone bust of Prince Leonard. He has 7 kids and 22 grandchildren so a well established lineage in place (unfortunately I couldn't talk my way into the inheritance).

Other stories we've heard on the road included a war with Australia that now has him receiving war funds but I don't know the truth in that one. He was a lovely old man and we enjoyed our time in his country but had to get back on the road and reality.