Dongara to Kalbarri National Park

Day 7 – July 26, 2014 – Dongara to Kalbarri National Park - distance travelled:  295 kms - 22^oC high; 12^oC low.  Up just after seven, when the sun wasn’t quite ready yet to rise.   Took us until after 10am to drive off, with Claire & Shannon taking some time to take a shower and such, Don organizing the luggage in our Troopy, and all kids spending some time on the big jumping pillow in the campground.  Reached Kalbarri National Park early afternoon, with enough daylight left to take in Hawks Lookout, Ross Graham Lookout and the Z Bend Lookout, with a short walk to each.  Travelling to the Z Bend was slower, as about 25 kms was on rather badly corrugated road.  As the park did not offer any camping, we pitched our tents at the Big River Ranch not far from the park. BBQ meal in the camp kitchen there where we talked to an Australian family travelling around and met a tour group with a very high travel speed: came in from Perth that day (no time for the Pinnacles) and leaving the next morning at 6:10am. By the time we went to bed it unfortunately had started raining.

Dongara Tourist Park

The jumping pillow at the campground

Hawk's Head Lookout, Kalbarri National Park

Corrugated road

Murchison River at the Z Bend, Kalbarri National Park

Z Bend

Purple wattle tree

Pink wattle tree

This tree looked like a soldier on the side of the road

Yanchep to Dongara

Day 6 – July 25, 2014 – Yanchep to Dongara - distance travelled:  310 kms - 20^oC high; 10^oC low.  As it turned out, the one good thing about the chalet was its location: about a three minute walk from the ocean, on the other side of the dunes we could see.  We walked down there after packing up and spent some time admiring the view.  The Pinnacles were our main destination for the day: limestone formations in a desert-like environment, mostly shaped like – well, pinnacles.  Fascinating landscape to walk through.   Got as far as Dongara for the day where we pitched our tents nicely before dark, had a nice bbq meal and were in bed by 8:20pm.

Leaving from our "chalet" in the morning

Morning walk to the Indian Ocean

Troopy and Neptune in the town of Two Rocks

Watch for kangaroos, emus and echidnas

Jordan and Ian in The Pinnacles National Park

Shannon and pinnacles

Claire and Shannon and pinnacles

The road north...

Perth to Yanchep

Day 5 – July 24, 2014 – Perth to Yanchep - distance travelled:  123 kms - 21^oC high; 9^oC low.  Time to leave our Perth cabin.  Packed all our stuff into our Troopy, and amazingly enough everything fit inside so no need to put anything on the roof.  Ran some errands picking up a few things needed for camping (proper table for six, little side table (borrowed one last time we were in Australia; very handy), griddle for on top of stove), dropped off the table given to us by the rental place and got a few little things fixed on the vehicle and then spent a few hours exploring the pedestrian malls of downtown Perth.  After that headed north, and, as it was getting dark and camping at the Yanchep “resort” (the only caravan park in town) was $10 per person we figured we might as well have one more night of luxury in a chalet for a little more.  As it turned out, the chalet was rather old, not very luxurious, cob webs and spiders everywhere (kids not happy), came with a small inefficient heater; well, you get the picture.  However, when we came out of the grocery store after a grocery run it was absolutely pouring so we were happy to have a solid roof.

Narrow parking spot for Troopy

Our cabin in Perth

First $0.30 soft serve of the trip

Perth to Fremantle to Perth

Day 4 – July 23, 2014 – Perth to Fremantle to Perth - distance travelled:  74 kms - 15^oC high; 8^oC low. Off to Fremantle for a day of sightseeing.  We toured the replica of the Dutch VOC (Dutch East India Company) ship the “Duyfken”, the original of which was the first recorded European ship to land on mainland Australia in 1606. Very interesting; it took them 11 months one way from the Netherlands to Dutch East India (now Indonesia) where they traded goods for very valuable spices.  A crew member was rewarded with a handful of spices, which had a value equivalent to anywhere from a big house to a small farm.  Of course, crew members only received the reward upon return in the Netherlands but only about half of the crew survived the return journey.  Next we saw a piece of another Dutch VOC ship, the Batavia, which was shipwrecked off the coast of Australia in 1629.  Part of the stern of the Batavia was pulled from the ocean, restored and is on display together with other artefacts from that ship and other wrecked ships.  After a stroll through downtown Fremantle we toured Fremantle Prison, which also very interesting.  The prison opened in the mid-1800s and closed its doors 1991, not all that long ago.  After the tour we drove back to Kings Park for some pictures of downtown before it was completely dark, following which it was time to go back to the cabin.


Shannon on deck of the Duyfken

Gwen in the hold standing on bricks which were traded for spices

The Wegners on deck of the Duyfken.  On deck is where the crew of about 25 slept the entire trip.

Downtown Fremantle

Australian police panel van, ute and regular car

Fremantle

Victorian building, Fremantle

Ian, Don & Jordan in front of Fremantle Prison

Tour of Fremantle Prison

Solitary confinement cell, Fremantle Prison

Downtown Perth from Kings Park

Perth

Day 3 – July 22, 2014 – Perth - distance travelled:  84 kms - 15^oC high; 8^oC low.  First order of the day was organizing some food, as we had nothing whatsoever in our cabin.  Luckily we found a BP service station about a block away which carried some cereal and milk (for which it charged somewhat inflated prices). After breakfast Don and Gwen took a taxi and picked up our rental Toyota Landcruiser Troop Carrier, which was followed by a grocery run with the kids, lunch and a visit to Kings Park.  We strolled around the beautiful botanical section with plants and trees from various regions of Australia.  Unfortunately it was raining on and off which did not do justice to the park.  The sun set just after 5pm which makes for a short day.  A home cooked meal in the cabin and in bed by 9:30pm.

Claire in front of our "Troopy" at Kings Park