WA Camping

Broome

20130819-220911.jpgWe know you have already seen lots of photos from Broome from our little video but we wanted to include a post about what we got up to in Broome for the five days we were there.  The short answer is not a lot!  Lots of swimming and hanging out at the beach watching sunsets mostly!  We loved Broome!

From Lake Argyle we had a big day in the car and pushed three quarters of the way along the just over 1,000 kilometres to Broome along the Great Northern Highway.  Unfortunately as we were now running on a time schedule we had to bypass the Bungle Bungles on this trip – definitely something we would like to visit next time though!!  We camped at a rest area just west of Fitzroy Crossing for the night and managed to get up and away early the next morning (second rig out of the campsite that day – a record for us – it is very difficult to beat the Grey Nomads onto the road in the mornings!!!) and we arrived in Broome just after 10.30am in the morning.  We managed to get a great site close to the amenities and pool at the Cable Beach Caravan Park.  The caravan park was huge and filled to the brim but it was lovely and shady with very clean and modern amenities.  The swimming pool was fantastic and the kids loved it even though it was freezing cold while we were there.  It was expensive at about $70 per night for our family of five but all of the accommodation in Broome is expensive so we thought it was pretty good value for money!  There were aqua aerobics classes happening in the pool and craft circles and a muscian performed one night we were there too so definitely heaps to do at the caravan park and the staff were lovely!

Kids built a cubby house on our great site at Cable Beach Caravan Park

Kids built a cubby house on our great site at Cable Beach Caravan Park

Kids cubby house

Kids cubby house

Awesome swimming pool at Cable Beach Caravan Park

Awesome swimming pool at Cable Beach Caravan Park

Even though we really liked the Cable Beach Caravan Park, I think next time we would stay at the Roebuck Bay Caravan Park  which is closer to town and located right on the beach at Roebuck Bay.  It is also right beside a great kids playground and small water park and has a nice little cafe right on site.  I don’t know what the amenities etc are like at the Roebuck Bay Caravan Park but we spent a lovely morning at Roebuck Bay exploring the rock pools and playing in the playground and water park – it would have been great to be camped right there I think – definitely with small kids like ours who dig all that stuff!

Exploring the rock pools at Roebuck Bay

Exploring the rock pools at Roebuck Bay

Water park at Roebuck Bay

Water park at Roebuck Bay

Lex not wanting her photo taken at Roebuck Bay - I was trying to capture the beautiful colour of the water!!

Lex not wanting her photo taken at Roebuck Bay – I was trying to capture the beautiful colour of the water!!

We spent a couple of afternoons watching the sun set over cable beach which was just spectacular and a real treat to watch the sun set over the water for us East Coasters!!  Matt got sooooooo many great photos down there it was hard to choose just a couple for the blog!

It was soooooo exciting to arrive in Broome after so long in the cold and dirt and dust - we were all in heaven!!

It was soooooo exciting to arrive in Broome after so long in the cold and dirt and dust – we were all in heaven!!

First swim at Cable Beach

First swim at Cable Beach

Peter Prado on the beach - so different to the dirt & dust!

Peter Prado on the beach – so different to the dirt & dust!

The camels on the beach at sunset really are beautiful

The camels on the beach at sunset really are beautiful

The photographer!

The photographer!

Sunset

Sunset

We caught up with Matt’s Dad and Rema again in Broome and finally cracked open our bottle of champagne (a gift from Hans & Ang when we left Brissbane – thank you guys!!!) on the beach for an evening picnic!  We also met another lovely family that afternoon (big hello to the Rollason family – their blog is Rollinroundoz – check it out for some great photos!) and the kids had a great time playing with their new friend ‘Sam’ (sorry James – they just kept calling you that – I think you will always be Sam in our house!).  We got to meet up with the Rollason’s again at Middle Lagoon which was great!

Sunset picnic to finally open our bottle of champagne from Ang & Hans!

Sunset picnic to finally open our bottle of champagne from Ang & Hans!

Just your ordinary day for Peter Prado - on the beach with camels walking past!

Just your ordinary day for Peter Prado – on the beach with camels walking past!

The car park that is Cable Beach at sunset!

The car park that is Cable Beach at sunset!

The kids playing with their friend James

The kids playing with their friend James

And we did of course do a camel ride which was fantastic!  Pretty reasonably priced at I think $140 for our whole family for a pre-sunset ride of 45minutes.  We choose the pre-sunset ride because it was the cheapest and shortest.  We thought that would be long enough for the kids and we wanted to be able to watch the camels go past at sunset – not be riding them – we were pretty happy with our decision.

Poppy & Rema came down to watch us do our camel ride

Poppy & Rema came down to watch us do our camel ride

We choose the Blue Camel tour - run by Broome's original camel lady Alison Bird - and I got a few pair of tiny pearl earrings!

We choose the Blue Camel tour – run by Broome’s original camel lady Alison Bird – and I got a pair of tiny pearl earrings!

Tobes was a little bit frightened!

Tobes was a little bit frightened!

Lots of fun - definitely worth the $$$$

Lots of fun – definitely worth the $$$$

We also spent a lovely afternoon at Gantheaume Point.  We had a wonder around the rocks up at the Lighthouse where at certain times of the month with very low tides you can spot dinosaur footprints – unfortunately the tide was too high when we were there.  We ended up bumping into our next door neighbour from the campground (hello Marika and the boys!) at the point and they were very kind letting our kids have a turn on their surfboard and skim boards in exchange for a go on the green kayak. Lex and I had a good paddle around on the kayaks.  It was another beautiful afternoon!

Gantheaume Point

Gantheaume Point

Gantheaume Point

Gantheaume Point

Kayakers in the water at Gantheaume Point

Kayakers in the water at Gantheaume Point

Kayaking

Kayaking

Fun in the surf!

Fun in the surf!

Toby's first go at surfing and he managed to stand up first go - it was a fantastic surfboard for kids - thanks Marika!!

Toby’s first go at surfing and he managed to stand up first go – it was a fantastic surfboard for kids – thanks Marika!!

Jacko's first turn too - they made it look easy!

Jacko’s first turn too – they made it look easy!

Beautiful sunset Gantheaume Point

Beautiful sunset Gantheaume Point

On our last day in Broome we spent the morning at Riddell Beach.  It was rockier and redder than Cable Beach but we loved it as we had it to ourselves – it was very quiet!  On the way home we picked up some fresh prawns from the fish co-op and had yummy prawn sandwiches for lunch – so good!

Lex having a go in the kayak at Riddell Beach

Lex having a go in the kayak at Riddell Beach

Oh – nearly forgot – we also squeezed in a lunch at Matso’s Brewery which overlooks Roebuck Bay – reasonably priced and delicious!  We had a voucher for a free tasting paddle with lunch so Matt was happy!

Lunch at Matso's Brewery

Lunch at Matso’s Brewery

Mmmmmmm ....... Beer!

Mmmmmmm ……. Beer!

While we were in Broome I also managed a morning out by myself which was bliss!  I got some essential waxing done, checked out the shops and bought a new pair of togs – awesome!  Matt got his turn too and headed to the physio for a massage to try and sort his sore back out (lots of time in the drivers seat the problem we think!) – it didn’t really help but any time out on your own is a bonus!

I wish we had more time in Broome, it is a place that weeks could easily be spent in the blink of an eye!!  Loved it, loved it!

Sooooo hard to drag the kids away from the beach at sunset!

Sooooo hard to drag the kids away from the beach at sunset!

Categories: Camping, WA Camping | Tags: , | 9 Comments

Lake Argyle

20130816-214949.jpgLake Argyle was spectacular.  When we left Brisbane we hadn’t even really heard of Lake Argyle and did not have any plans to stop in there.  However, nearly every person we spoke to along the way on the trip said we had to go in and see it and we are so glad we did – it is really difficult to explain how beautiful it was.  So, some photos first.

The drive in to Lake Argyle was really pretty

The drive in to Lake Argyle was really pretty

Our campsite at Lake Argyle

Our campsite at Lake Argyle

The amazing infinity pool

The amazing infinity pool – it was freezing though!!!

The pool was an attraction in its own right!

The pool was an attraction in its own right!

The Dam wall

The Dam wall

At the lookout over the dam wall

At the lookout over the dam wall

The Ord River & release valves

The Ord River & release valves

Nice picnic spot at the bottom of the dam wall

Nice picnic spot at the bottom of the dam wall

The Lake is massive!  It is Australia’s largest fresh water lake and covers an area of more than 900 square kilometres!  We camped for two nights at the campground there and one of the perks of having our trip shortened was that we have been able to splash out on a few things we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford to do and one of those was a sunset cruise on the Lake.  We all really enjoyed the cruise which was good as it was very expensive!!!  The cruise started at 1pm in the reception area with a history on the building of the lake and we then spent the rest of the afternoon until about 6pm cruising around on the lake.  The photos give you a bit of an idea of what we got to see …………………

Cruising

Cruising

The boys got to have a go at driving the boat

The boys got to have a go at driving the boat

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We all loved looking out the back of the boat

We all loved looking out the back of the boat

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We got to spot our first freshwater crocodile

We got to spot our first freshwater crocodile

Fish feeding time

Fish feeding time

Euros on one of the islands on the lake

Euros on one of the islands on the lake

Just beautiful

Just beautiful

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Matt jumping off the roof of the boat for a swim in the lake

Matt jumping off the roof of the boat for a swim in the lake

Jack got in too but he was very nervous about swimming with freshwater crocodiles

Jack got in too but he was very nervous about swimming with freshwater crocodiles – beers were thrown out to all those swimming

Sunset

Sunset

Just beautiful

Just beautiful

The cruise was extravagant but we all loved it!  The other great thing about Lake Argyle was that we met a lovely family from Townsville here and spent a great night chatting to them around the campfire – we then got to meet up with them again at Middle Lagoon and it has been a real highlight of the trip for us to meet some great new friends!  Big shout out to Geoff, Trice and the kids – we’ll catch up with you again back in Far North Qld!!!

Lake Argyle is a definite must see in our book!!!

Cool guy performing some good music at the pub at the campground - he plays regularly at the Newfarm bowls club for any Brisbaneites!

Cool guy performing some good music at the pub at the campground – he plays regularly at the Newfarm bowls club for any Brisbaneites!

Great campfire at Lake Argyle

Great campfire at Lake Argyle

Categories: WA Camping | Tags: , | 6 Comments

Katherine to Kununurra

Loved seeing all the Boab trees as we came into WA - there may just be a few photos of them to come!

Loved seeing all the Boab trees as we came into WA – there may just be a few photos of them to come!

Once we had decided that we were going to head back north to Mareeba in a month’s time to be Mango farmers – we decided that we would push over to Western Australia as quickly as possible to at least get a couple of weeks on the beach there before our trip was over.  So we headed out of Katherine and aimed for Kununurra where we had managed to phone ahead and book the car in for a service and new tyres which it needed in order to do the many kilometres we had ahead of us!  The service and tyres were much cheaper in Kununurra then in Katherine and we could not get the car serviced in Katherine until the end of August – that was how far ahead they were booked out!!  So on our last night at Katherine Gorge – I cooked up as much of our veges as I could in a pre-cooked dinner for the next night, made a banana bread with our bananas and shoved as much apples, carrots and celery into the kids as I could manage in preparation for our crossing over the border into WA where you are not allowed to bring any fruit or veges in with you.

On the way out of Katherine we had a quick dip in the hot springs which were just lovely – we thought they were as good as Mataranka!20130815-200321.jpg 20130815-200332.jpg 20130815-200451.jpg 20130815-200413.jpg

The drive from Katherine to Kununurra is just over 500km’s and is quite a scenic drive.  We stopped for lunch at the Victoria River Roadhouse and we showed the kids how to eat tomatoes like apples here (with plenty of salt) to finish off the bag of tomatoes I was still carting – I had offloaded a bag of carrots at the campground that morning but forgot about the tomatoes.

Nice scenary on the way to Kununurra

Nice scenary on the way to Kununurra

Lunch stop Victoria River Roadhouse

Lunch stop Victoria River Roadhouse

Lunchtime

Lunchtime

We were very excited to cross the border and the quarantine point in to Western Australia – madly eating the last of our apples as we approached the checkpoint!20130815-200950.jpgWe arrived in to Kununurra just before dark and found a site at the Kimberleyland Caravan Park on the recommendation of the ‘Families Travelling Australia’ Facebook group.  It was a lovely caravan park but very busy!  The caravan park is on the banks of the lake and has lots of shady sites (still dusty though!).  We arrived just in time to hear a pretty good musician performing in the park on the banks of the lake so we quickly set up camp and went down to watch.

We were all pretty excited to see green grass!

We were all pretty excited to see green grass!

Kids happy to be able to roll around and play without being covered in dust!

Kids happy to be able to roll around and play without being covered in dust!

Sunset at the campground

Sunset at the campground

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Peter Brandy performing at Kimberleyland Caravan Park

Peter Brandy performing at Kimberleyland Caravan Park

The 1.5hour change in timezone (back) messed with our body clocks a little as we were super tired by 8pm but we were all then up at 5am the next morning!  The early morning was ok though as we had to be checked out of the campground – dropped the camper off across the road at the park, and have the car dropped off at the mechanic all by 7am so for once we were happy to all be awake early.

We then spent most of the day having a nice breakfast at a lovely cafe called the ‘Wild Mango Cafe’ where we decided to do some ‘research’ in preparation for our mango farming journey ahead and try the pancakes with mango syrup as well as the mango smoothies – delicious!!

A treat breakfast out!

A treat breakfast out!

We then wandered around town and checked out all the shops before spending a couple of hours relaxing at the library where Toby and Lexi got to sit in with a local kindy class’s library session and Jack read another ‘Diary of the Wimpy Kid’ book.  Matt and I had a chance to research what we wanted to do with our time in WA and book our sites at Middle Lagoon and Cable Beach Caravan Park.  The Kununurra library was awesome – the best we have come across so far!

We made ourselves at home at the library!

We made ourselves at home at the library!

We finally picked Peter Prado up all spiffy looking with his new shoes and a morning at the ‘day spa’ and headed out to Lake Argyle at about 2pm.  A short but sweet stay in Kununurra.

Peter Prado with his spunky new BFG tyres!

Peter Prado with his spunky new BFG tyres!

 

Categories: NT Camping, WA Camping | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments

So much to tell you!

I am madly trying to get this post out while we have reception here in Kununurra – we have sooooooo much we want to share with you all and after two weeks without any phone or internet reception – we have heaps to say!!!  We have just finished a very quick week on the Gibb River Road and are in Kununurra to refuel and restock on food before we spend our final week on the road heading back to Far North Qld.  I am sitting in the park ‘watching’ the kids in the playground and Matt is on the phone trying to get a few things organised for our arrival in Mareeba in ten days time.  From here – we are just going to drive each day until we decide to stop – lots of long days on the road coming up.  We are all feeling a bit sad that we did our last gorge hike at Emma Gorge this morning.  The last few weeks on the road have been amazing – so, so, so good!  Fingers crossed we get a bit of internet reception over the next few nights so I can pump a few posts out!

But, in the meantime, I thought I would give you a quick update on what we have been doing since I last did a proper blog entry about our time in Katherine Gorge.

From Katherine we headed over the border into new territory for all of us – Western Australia – very exciting!  We spent the first two days in Kununurra (yep – we have come full circle as that is where we are today!) getting Peter Prado serviced and new tyres.

Boab Tree in Kunnunurra

Boab Tree in Kunnunurra

Then we headed out to Lake Argyle which was spectacular!

Sunset boat cruise on Lake Argyle

Sunset boat cruise on Lake Argyle

From Lake Argyle we pushed over to Broome (you saw our little video of our time there – so good!).

My photographer boy in Broome!

My photographer boy in Broome!

We then spent a week camping at Middle Lagoon and exploring Cape Leveque which was just so beautiful and relaxing!

Quality time at Middle Lagoon

Quality time at Middle Lagoon

Epic sandcastle Matt & the kids built at Middle Lagoon

Epic sandcastle Matt & the kids built at Middle Lagoon

One Arm Point - beautiful!

One Arm Point – beautiful!

Cape Leveque

Cape Leveque

We dragged ourselves away from Middle Lagoon and after talking to lots of other families while we were staying there – we decided to do a quick one week trip along the Gibb River Road to commence our journey back to the East Coast.  The Gibb River Road was not quite the ‘highway’ everybody said it was – saying it was in very good condition – it was still pretty rough but we have had a great time!

Freshwater Crododiles at Windjiana Gorge

Freshwater Crododiles at Windjiana Gorge

Tunnell Creek was definitely a highlight of the trip - amazing!

Tunnell Creek was definitely a highlight of the trip – amazing!

Bell Gorge

Bell Gorge

Manning Gorge

Manning Gorge

Branco's Lookout - El Questro Station

Branco’s Lookout – El Questro Station

And now it is time to hit the road home.  More detailed blog posts on all the fun we have had very soon – fingers crossed for reception tonight!

 

 

 

Categories: Camping, WA Camping | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

We’re still alive!

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Just letting everybody know we are still alive! We have spent a wonderful week at Middle Lagoon and checking out Cape Leveque. Now we are about to do a very abridged trip along the Gibb River Road for the next seven days so unfortunately no phone reception again!

Heaps of blog posts to come next week! Hope you are all well!!

We are just leaving Derby now – fingers crossed for no mishaps on the Gibb!

Categories: Camping, WA Camping | 2 Comments

‘Toes in the Water’ in Broome

We’re jumping ahead a little with the blog posts, but we just wanted to share the fun we have been having here in Broome over the last few days, before we head out of reception tomorrow. We have loved, loved, loved our time in Broome. We will write a proper blog post about where we went, where we stayed, what we did etc when we are back in reception.

Enjoy Broome – Fealy Family style to the sounds of Zac Brown Band ‘Toes’.

Categories: Travel, WA Camping, Zac Brown Band | Tags: , | 15 Comments
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