Shipwrecks and HMB Endeavour

Captain Pelsaert's Cabin

Our first day in Fremantle dawned clear after the heavy rain all night. Ella was terrified during the storm, but fortunately was in the Blunderbuss with Jackson, who managed to calm her down and get her back to sleep! Our first mission was to buy a map to avoid further mishap. That done, we headed to the huge marina to check out the yachts and then into the Shipwrecks Galleries at the Maritime Museum. The Batavia - or what was left of her - was displayed there and we all enjoyed delving into the story and the artefacts again.

Endeavour in Victoria Quay

We were very happy to discover that we had finally caught the Endeavour, berthed in Fremantle. We missed it in Brisbane just before we left and we have been just missing it in ports ever since as it circumnavigates Australia for the first time! After we finished at the Shipwreck Galleries, we drove to Victoria Quay to take a tour of Captain Cook's ship. It was fantastic! The ship was smaller than we had imagined, with the mid-shipman's deck added into the existing ship and subsequently a little over a metre high. The doors to the tiny cabins were Ella sized. It was almost impossible to imagine the 94 sailors, soldiers and scientists on board in such a tiny ship for 3 years!

Ella could barely fit through the cabin door!

Jackson is glad he is not a marine living in this space!

We are thinking of installing one of these
into the Blunderbuss!

Jackson at the helm

As usual, there have been no replies to our phone calls re. busking at the markets, but we had a rehearsal anyway on our return to camp.

Stay tuned ..

To Perth, via the Pinnacles

It was hosing down as we were trying to pack up in Green Head. That was a new experience - and not a fun one! The rain forced us to cancel our planned Wildflower Loop Drive but we did persevere and drove in to the Pinnacles. We had morning tea in the Blunderbuss waiting for the rain to clear and dashed across to the Interpretive Centre when it didn't. We enjoyed the information as we dripped our way around the displays. The Pinnacles are a very recent geological formation - about 6000 years old - and no-one really knows how they formed. The two main formation theories proposed are both controversial,  the kids were interested to discover.

Ninjas in the Pinnacles

The rain stopped after we unhitched the caravan to drive the narrow track through the Pinnacles. The golden rocks and surrounding sand were an extreme colour change from the red landscape we have become used to. The wet sand of course was tracked through the Blunderbuss as well, so all our gear was suddenly, grittily, golden. We returned to the carpark where the Jayco was faithfully waiting for our return, after joking about arriving in Perth without it!

"Don't forget the caravan, Dad!"

Who ate all the pies?

We were all cold so we bought our first pies for lunch and the boys were very excited to try Pie Sandwiches, a la Masterchef Gonz. Even without Tomato Sauce, they thought it was not bad! Ella decided that a sausage roll sandwich wouldn't really be the same!

Black Boys everywhere!

Travelling the rest of the Indian Ocean Drive towards Joondalup, we were amazed to see thousands of black boys in flower.

It was a very stressful drive into Perth and Fremantle without a map. We got off the Freeway too early and ended up ensnared in central Fremantle, where one turn led us into a dead end with no room to turn. With Jackson giving his excellent reversing directions to Dave as he wended back onto the main road, I found myself directing heavy Fremantle traffic to stop and wait for us! I can report that although the woman in the front car was quite accommodating (and rather startled!), road rage in the backed up cars was alive and well! The Queen was arriving at the Perth airport at the same time as we were changing Fremantle's traffic arrangements. We could have done with one of the police escorts!

Eventually we found our caravan park and set up quickly as a storm was threatening. It was raining during the evening, but there was a huge thunderstorm during the night, with one clap of thunder directly above us and loud enough to scare the bejesus out of us all!

So, we have arrived in Perth (or Fremantle, to be accurate) and we'd better hit the op shops for some crazy outfits so we fit in with all the CHOGM delegates. Marcus figures he'll pick up some leadership tips for his School Captain application, but the Queen hasn't replied to his email!

Stay tuned ...

Fishing at Green Head

SCOREBOARD

Church Family vs. Fish at Green Head

  0                          3     

NINJAs go fishing ... but they are not so ninja at catching anything!

FISHING Leaderboard:

Lachlan - 13 undersize fish, including 3 puffer fish

Dave - 2 grunter and a sole

Ella - half a large snub-nosed dart

Jackson - one yellow fin bream and a squid jig

Marcus - half a snub-nosed dart, a bait fish (thrown into the air) and (debatable) 2 octopus which let go when they were near shore

Kerrie - zilch (lack of effort)

Rugby Final day, Sunday, was a rest day. Time for Monopoly, reading, fishing and of course, the Rugby. Fortunately the All Blacks were victorious, as Dave had threatened to jump into Dynamite Bay if they didn't win. And I still can't reverse the caravan. Not that I'm trying to. Why have a dog and bark yourself? Ella finished Harry Potter 5 with a whoop and a cheer, so the mispronunciations and the "Harry is in big trouble" come to an end for a while.

Storm heading our way while fishing

Monday was much the same, with more unsuccessful fishing. Although we did see a sea lion, his whiskery face peering at us (laughing, I think!) before he disappeared under the waves. We also saw a huge ray swim past before the storm hit and we bolted back to camp.

Ella and I retired to the tent to listen to the rain pitter patter while the boys crowded around the computer screen to watch the Rugby, posted online 24 hours after the match. No-one has missed having a TV with the exception of missing the live Rugby coverage!

Rodred the Thin in action

Our last day of R&R, Tuesday, was similar again. We decided to attempt to catch a fish one more time, although Jackson was happy to stay with his Lego programme on the computer. We went to the same headland, hoping to see some more sea lions, but no luck. An enormous ray swam past again, bigger than the last one. Marcus was excited to have two octopus on his line, but both times the octopus came in close and then let go of the bait, sending a disgusted jet of water at Marcus up the cliff!

We were enjoying the fishing but again the rain set in. That fly we bought for the tent is getting a good work out. Our timing of the purchase couldn't have been better.

Looks like it will be our first wet pack up to depart for Perth tomorrow.

Stay tuned ...

Geraldton to Jurien Bay Marine Reserve

Haybales along the roadside outside Greenough

Hooray! The Tooth Fairy caught up with us! Ella was very pleased to read the note she left, written in sparkly pink.

Geraldton was surprisingly hot as we packed up and headed south again, however it wasn't long before storm clouds were threatening. Hay season is in full swing here and there were thousands of round and square hay bales along the roadside. We stopped in Dongara for morning tea, where Lachlan had a battle getting his fishing rod out of the Blunderbuss. In his frustration, his tongue tangled and he said "I can't get my rod red out"; his fishing line was immediately christened Rodred the Thin. The rain set in before he could fish, so we drove onwards to Green Head.

Dynamite Bay

The intriguingly named Dynamite Bay at Green Head was a lovely lunch stop, but the rain started again in earnest so Lachie was again thwarted in his fishing. We drove through heavy rain for the first time on this trip to Jurien Bay, where we took one look at the crowded caravan park and turned back for the tiny hamlet of Green Head.

It turned out to be a great decision, as the park was almost empty and cheaper than average! The rain stopped for us to set up and we were extremely pleased that we'd invested in a fly for the tent in Geraldton! Dave and the boys played soccer and forceback until dark. Ella is nearing the end of Harry Potter 5 so wanted to read after she had cleaned the caravan and Blunderbuss (all of her own violition!). Her HP mis-pronunciations have another addition - Filch has become "Flinch" and Harry is still in big trouble!


We have decided to spend a couple of days R&R here before hitting Perth, and will no doubt be fishing!

Stay tuned ...

Geraldton and Greenough

We can't fit in the Yellow Submarine!

On Thursday morning, we drove through the port and along the waterfront to get out bearings. The Yellow Submarine caused much amusement. It was a prototype built for the crayfishing industry, which subsequently poisoned the operators with gas emissions from the batteries! We also found a replica of Randolph Stow's loved Merry-Go-Round which he based his novel upon.

However, the main focus of the day was to visit Greenough Historical Village which was a 20 minute drive from Geraldton. Just outside Greenough we found the famous Leaning Tree. It is a river gum growing horizontally due to the constant southerly winds. Incredible.

Greenough Historical Village is a wonderful time capsule from the late 1800s. The village was abandoned after the area declined in the first half of the twentieth century. Heritage Listing in the 1970's saved Greenough and the process of conserving and interpreting the historic buildings is now continuing.

Greenough School, est. 1865

Mr Church supervising the
1898 Elementary School Bursary Exam

We spent a fascinating few hours exploring all the buildings. They were all built with stone and beautifully cool inside. The school room felt as though the students had just left. A copy of the 1898 Bursary Exam was set out on the desks, which the Church family attempted. With such pearlers as:

Reduce 12s 7 1/2d to the decimal of  £2.

Say what you know about Gordon and his connections with the Soudan.

Draw a map of Africa indicating the chief rivers and the portions of the continent forming part of the British Empire.

It became obvious that we would not have been amongst the 3 successful candidates in WA that year!

St Catherine's Church, still in regular use

We spent the rest of the day in Geraldton, enjoying the waterfront, the second-hand bookstore and the ice-cream parlour! We went for a long walk around the port and marina that evening. There was an enormous catamaran, a tug boat and about 40 large boats in dry dock. The wind was freezing and we walked back to warm up in the caravan.

The Batavia's longboat - which was not very long!

Geraldton's attractions entertained us on Friday. We had a quick squizz at St Francis Xavier Cathedral and spent time on the waterfront (where the ripstick and skateboard came out again!) before visiting the Museum. A guided tour of the Shipwrecks display was excellent, and filled in many details about the infamous Batavia shipwreck, mutiny and the subsequent murders on the Abrolhos Islands. A replica of the tiny 9.1m longboat in which the Captain and 40-odd other people reached Batavia (Jakarta) was moored outside. Everyone enjoyed pottering around the museum, finding out bizarre things. Dave spent his time in the Shipwrecks section, Lachlan loved the fishing history exhibits, Ella found a black and white fish which reminded her of Bonnie, Marcus enjoyed the coins from the shipwrecks and Jackson was fascinated by the Batavia ballast mystery. Over one hundred shaped rocks were found at the wreck site and subsequently pieced together to make an arch which was to have been installed at the Dutch headquarters in Batavia. I read about the enormous asbestos sheeting roof which was erected over Geraldton's water supply in the 1960s to stop some of the evaporation. All well and good until 1967, when it wobbled and collapsed - into the water supply - like a house of cards!

Victoria Building - was a hospital, a council building,
a prison and is now the Information Centre

We spent the afternoon at the Bill Sewell complex, which included the beautiful Victoria Building and Geraldton's first goal. The cells are now used by local craftspeople who joined together to save the building from becoming a carpark.


Ella put her tooth fairy letter out for the fourth time. The Tooth Fairy is having trouble finding us as we travel WA!

Stay tuned ...

Kalbarri to Geraldton

Kabarri's marketing phrase is "KALBARRI you'll love it". We agreed wholeheartedly as we packed to leave on Wednesday morning.

We were so excited to see this pod of dolphins -
which soon enlarged to 46!

We stopped at Natural Bridge again on the off-chance of seeing some more humpbacks before we left the area. We had only been there for a couple of minutes when I saw a pod of 20 dolphins surfing the swell and chasing fish. Before long we had counted 46 dolphins and our plans for a quick stop were scuttled! It was totally amazing watching so many dolphins just below us! We couldn't believe our luck. Eventually they all disappeared. Ella summed it up "That was glorious! I'd love to be a dolphin out there!"

Jackson needs the pink ukulele to complete this picture!

We were looking forward to seeing the Pink Lake near Port Gregory. And yes, it was PINK! The colour is a result of pink bacteria and an algae which accumulates beta-carotene in the hyper-saline waters. None of us had ever heard of the Pink Lake, so it was exciting to see it truly was as pink as in the tourist brochures! Marcus and Jackson were desperate to collect water samples for future analysis, but I could forsee an accumulation of bacteria and alga on the van floor, so denied their requests.

Marcus worked out the self-timer on the camera!

The jetty at Port Gregory

Lunch at picturesque Port Gregory was a windy affair. While we were there, an English couple came over to say hello to the Haystack Mountain Hermits! They had seen us busk in Carnarvon. The kids were amazed that we were recognised without our costumes.

Geraldton was our destination for the day and we managed to find our caravan park from a postage stamp sized map of the park. The HMAS Sydney II War Memorial dominates the Geralton skyline. It was beautifully made and very moving. A seagull represents each of the 645 men who lost their lives, and a woman waits, watching out to sea for news. Very poignant.



Stay tuned ... 

Denham to Kalbarri

Shell Beach

It was an unusually quiet Blunderbuss that left Denham. I think we were all musing on our fantastic experiences there. Either that or it was communal anxiety over the bakery being closed and having nothing tasty for morning tea! We crossed over the 126th parallel - again - and stopped to view Shell Beach, comprised entirely of billions of tiny cockle shells, amassed over the last 4000 years.

The start of the 3.4km Project Eden fence

Project Eden's 2.4m high vermin proof electric fence starts on the beach there and goes across the narrow neck of the isthmus to the southern side. Eradication of wild goats, foxes, rabbits and feral cats is not yet complete, but the re-introduction of many rare native species has started. Bilbies and banded hare wallabies are apparently doing well there.

Ella gave us all a good scare as we drove on, yelling "BIG ROO". Dave braked, we all braced for the impact and when nothing happened asked "Where?" She said airily "Oh, back there. It's already dead." The next set of tyres may well come out of her pocket money! Wheat crops started to appear as we travelled further south and there were amazing fields of wildflowers through Kalbarri National Park.

The Murchison River meets the sea spectacularly
in Kalbarri

Kalbarri was windy - what a surprise! - and the surf was wild, crashing onto the rocky headland.

We got the van sorted and put the tent up quickly so the boys could listen to the Rugby semifinal. There is nothing like an All Blacks v. Wallabies game to divide the family - although the boys now all support the All Blacks. Ever pragmatic, they support the All Blacks and the Aussie cricket team for the best chances of victory! Ella got bored after the first try so I took her for a walk to prolong her lifespan. We watched in awe as the wild surf crashed onto the headland and the spray whipped along the beach.

View towards Kalbarri from Red Bluff -
named by Willem de Vlamingh in 1697

Next morning we drove the Kalbarri coastline, stopping at scenic points along the way. Red Bluff was used by the Dutch mariners in the 1600s to help them navigate the treacherous waters, as it was able to be seen many miles out to sea. We called in to most of the attractions along the 13km to the Park's southern boundary, but Natural Bridge was our favourite. We spotted a Humpback whale off the coast and watched it breaching - the classic belly-up splash. There were at least 5 whales travelling together and we watched, spell-bound, for an hour or so. The Kalbarri cliffs provide an amazing vantage point for spotting marine life. Lachie and Dave went off to try their luck fishing after lunch, and returned very quickly, having lost their sinkers and line in their first casts. The locals obviously know where to fish, but we are having trouble!

Spray forcing its way between the rocks

On our last day in Kalbarri water started falling from the sky. We had almost forgotten what rain was since leaving home! We drove out to the coast to see a couple of spots we missed the day before as the skies seemed clearer to the south. The rain, clouds and wind added more drama to the already dramatic coastline. The walk around Mushroom Rock was 3kms of fascinating coastline with interpretive panels along the way. The rock itself was magnificent and covered by hundreds of colourful crabs. Every now and again the swell sent a huge wave crashing through a split in the rocks, which of course had the boys climbing up to view it from on high. While they were there, they took the opportunity to help Mother Nature rearrange one of the rock layers ...

Further along were beautifully coloured layers of rocks, with what I thought were plants "dripping" over the edge. Closer inspection (and the interpretive information) revealed fossilised burrows from ancient wormlike creatures. The kids were very impressed.

Wildflowers bloom even on the sand!

The rain started again as we reached the carpark, so we drove out to the Murchison River section of Kalbarri National Park, hoping it would clear. Ross Graham Lookout was a fantastic vantage point and we climbed down to the river before the rain set in again. The kids enjoyed sheltering under overhanging cliffs and exploring small caves before paddling in the river.

Murchison River far below

Hawks Head was another wonderful lookout, but Marcus was too excited about finding the perfect stick to appreciate the view.

The triumphant stick hunter!

Lach was desperate to fish so we took him to the jetty in the late afternoon. An old fellow was next to him, catching yellow fin bream every time his hook hit the water. He had half a bucket of fish in no time, whilst we did not get a bite. He shared his "secret" bait recipe before he left: tuna oil, pollard, meat meal and prawns. Fishing in Haystack Creek is so much easier! A worm and a handline and you're done. I suggested it might be easier to just throw $20 notes into the water and that it would possibly be more fun as well, but it fell on deaf ears.

Onwards to Geraldton next.

Stay tuned ...

Kayaking Monkey Mia

Kayaking at Monkey Mia was keenly anticipated by all, so there were no worries getting everyone up. In fact, Lachlan and Jackson were up so early that they got some fishing in before we left. Lachie caught a puffer fish, which ballooned on the jetty before deflating in a bucket of water. They were excited to see a spanish dancer twisting its way through the water to its internal flamenco! Another boy fishing near them caught a squid and gave Jackson a lesson in making squid rings. We are eagerly anticipating the results of his new-found expertise! He managed to bring up a squid jig on one of his casts, so there are no excuses now.

Red Bluff

We got our kayaks organised and were soon in the bay, being buffetted by the winds. It was more like sailing than paddling and we were constantly battling the wind's intention of sending us out of the bay and across the Indian Ocean! We sought the relative shelter of Red Bluff and although the wind was no less fierce, we had a snack and waited on the beach for the wind to drop. Three other adult canoeists passed by and were struggling to make any headway back to Monkey Mia. I confess I was getting pretty worried - although we had enough food to last us for about a fortnight! In Biggles speak it was a case of "By Jove, chaps, we're in a bit of a tight spot, what!"

Jackson and Marcus catching up!

By mid-afternoon the wind had mercifully dropped and we started to really enjoy the paddling. The water was nearing high tide and the ocean life we saw was incredible. An enormous loggerhead turtle was sailing along with his flipper in the air; we saw a school of 16 sting rays, dolphins, sea snakes, another turtle, fish, cormorants catching and eating large fish, plus many shovel nosed rays. Jackson and Marcus saw a sea snake eating another sea snake.

Cockle Count

We pulled in to another little bay, where Lachie was soon chatting to a fisherman. While we helped Marcus do a cockle count, Lachie availed himself of the fisherman's spare rod and caught a fish!

The last photo from our backup camera, which was
drowned in a pool of water shortly afterwards!

Our paddle ended with a few races and a spectacular dive from Jackson trying to catch Dave and Ella's kayak.

The kids were really tired today, so we had a quiet day at the campsite. I managed to rescue the photos from the drowned camera at a photo booth and Dave played guitar nearly all day. He may not be so happy tomorrow, depending upon the Rugby result!

Stay tuned ...

Carnarvon - Shark Bay World Heritage Area

Salt pans from a lookout along the highway

We left Carnarvon on Tuesday, driving back out into the red plains occasionally spotting dazzling white salt and terracotta coloured clay pans.  We crossed the 126th parallel just before lunch, leaving the North West behind us. We were vigilant in looking for the Shark Bay turnoff, after the attendant at Wooramel Roadhouse told us that many people miss it and end up there.

A snapshot from 3.5 billion years ago (minus the birds!)

The Hamelin Pool stromatolites were our first port of call. Hamelin Pool is home to the most diverse and abundant examples of living stromatolites in the world. These creatures are a timecapsule of what life on Earth was like over 3500 million years ago; a time when no other complex creatures were present on the planet. Stromatolites dominated the earth for 2 billion years, producing enough oxygen through photosynthesis to allow the development of us, amongst other things! Although they weren't exactly gorgeous, it was awe-inspiring to contemplate them and the job they did!

Coquina was cut using cross-cut saws -
will cross children work?

The hyper-saline bay is also home to a tiny cockle which obviously thrives there, given the piles of shells which form dunes along the beach. Over time the shells were compacted to form Coquina, which was cut into blocks and used as a building material. The quarry is a heritage listed site now, but blocks are occasionally cut to repair historical buildings here.

As we drove up towards Denham, we zig-zagged back over the 126th parallel again, which was no-where near as exciting as the scenery. Bright green shrubs, red sand dunes, dazzling white shell beaches, green and azure water ... incredibly beautiful. We were a bit worried about getting a site as WA families are still on school holidays, but we found a home at Denham in Australia's most Westerly Caravan Park. The kids disappeared into the shell dunes behind the park as soon as we were set up and only reappeared to walk down along the waterfront to get fish and chips!

For Tender - huon pine boat with chequered history including
a number of sinkings!

Sunset on the waterfront in Denham

Another "You wouldn't want to
drop your favourite teddy down
there!" moment

Our first port of call the next day was the excellent Shark Bay Information Centre. We spent a very interesting couple of hours there and the kids were so reluctant to leave the attendant said we could come back over the next few days. Eagle Bluff was a short drive out of town and, as the name suggests, was perched high up over the bay. Feeling slightly voyeuristic, we spied on the sharks, stingrays, schools of fish and birds far below!  Ocean Park was another incredibly interesting place, where we spent 2 hours with a marine biologist guide sharing his knowledge and passion for all things marine with us. He had some timely comments to make on fishing for food vs. sport, legal limits and breeding stock, which Lachie listened to intently.

"Road Signs" on the way to Ocean Park

Ella fell in love with a turtle she promptly named Ted, so we have another soft toy adding to the menagerie in the Blunderbuss.

Tired Ted!

We were up early this morning to drive the 25kms to Monkey Mia for our dolphin experience. It was cool and cloudy, which coupled with the low tide meant that the dolphins were none too keen to come to shore on time. The Rangers said it was only occasionally that none came in ... we were thinking our luck was out for quite some time. Eventually Puck came in with her 2 year old calf and swam along the crowded shore a few times before eating her fish reward.

OK, where's my fish?

The kids had spied paddle boats, so after a squizz at the information centre to learn more about the bottle-nosed dolphins, we hired a paddle boat for an hour. It was still pretty cool, so the kids went out first before Dave braved the water to join them. They made him work hard to board, paddling away as he tried to swim to them! While they were out in the water, 5 dolphins started cavorting around in the water. I watched them chasing fish and playing from the shore when they suddenly turned towards the paddle boat and swam around Dave and the kids for about 10 minutes. It was the quietest 10 minutes that paddle boat has ever witnessed, I'll warrant!

We had a picnic lunch at Little Lagoon which was by consensus the most picturesque lunch spot. It is an almost circular lagoon which is linked to the bay. The shallow waters mean hypersalinity and not much lives there, but it was stunningly beautiful. An emu came and stood in the water while we watched, wondering what on earth it was doing!

Gun shearing team ready for action

Another short drive saw us at Francois Peron National Park, which used to be Peron Sheep Station until the WA government took over the lease and declared the Park in 1993. Being without 4WD we could only reach the Peron Homestead Historical Precinct, but we happily occupied ourselves in the 1950s style sheep station buildings. We were all amazed at the unusual procedures at shearing time. The low, shrubby country here prevented the sheep being mustered - or even seen, for that matter. The station hands had to trap the sheep as they came in to drink at the troughs and then run them for up to 2 days through a laneway to the shearing shed! It took a couple of months to trap and shear them all! Although cooking in the caravan drives me nuts at times, I am certainly glad I am not required to feed shearing teams from a corrugated iron shed and a coal range.

Lachie and Jackson went out fishing when we got back to camp. Jackson was delighted to have caught his second ever fish (his first a trout in NZ a few years ago) and Lachie was pleased to add another to his tally.

Tomorrow we hire ocean kayaks for the day and we plan to paddle to Red Bluff from Monkey Mia, hopefully surrounded by dolphins! I'd better join the others and catch some zeds as it will be a big day!

Stay tuned ...