When I finished decorating the inside of the camper, we organised to have a couple of things improved. We had already replaced two tyres, but really needed to replace the spare tyre which was passed its best. I also booked in to have the radio upgraded. The one in the van was old and only worked sporadically; we wanted a new one with Bluetooth. John’s son Mat kindly repaired a couple of things that also needed fixing – then we were set.
My friend Sam had to take some long service leave from work, and she asked me if I was keen to go away for a few days. Was I keen? Definitely. We decided that I would take Scout and she would bring along her swag. Sam hadn’t been to Wooramel which is just a couple of hours drive from home so that was our destination.
We took off in great excitement, Sam because she desperately needed some downtime from work, and me because I love camping. It was a perfect day and the drive was lovely. We stopped briefly on the way out of Kalbarri to check out the wildflowers then kept going, chatting all the way. Very soon we were driving into Wooramel River Retreat, somewhere John and I had camped previously. We found a perfect little campsite on the edge of the completely dry river with a campfire already set up.
We had a wonderful couple of nights there. It was so peaceful. We took a walk across the dry riverbed, read our Book Club novels, chatted, ate the food that Sam brought and drank wine in the evening around the fire. We also soaked in the artesian hot baths. Wooramel serves delicious coffee, lovely food and has a bar. Not only that but they have music in the evenings, so on the second night, we enjoyed a glass of wine, under the stars listening to country and western.
As we packed up after a very relaxing couple of days, we agreed we would go camping again very soon.
Mid-West
John and I took an overnight trip to Perth to celebrate John’s sister, Cheryll’s 80th birthday. We decided to take Scout and camp at Lancelin after the party as it was on the way home. We really liked Lancelin and wondered why we hadn’t called in more often. The caravan park was lovely with pleasant staff and located right on the beach. There was an indoor pool and facilities for children, and the amenities were nice and clean. We had a very peaceful night, and, in the morning, we had a lovely breakfast at Cafe 6044.
I told John we were going to do a little tour on the way back to Kalbarri – a few places he has never been despite them being almost at our front door (by Australian standards).
Pinnacles Desert
Our first stop was The Pinnacles Desert. I can’t count the number of times John has driven passed and never called in. He always thought of them as “a pile of rocks”. He soon changed his mind and was quite blown away by the vastness of the park. It was definitely worth the visit.
HMAS Sydney Memorial
After the success of the Pinnacles, we drove up to the HMAS Sydney Memorial in Geraldton which John had not seen. It was very lovely.
Horizon Ball
Our last stop was to the Horizon Ball on the Geraldton Foreshore. Another worthwhile stop.
Kulin
Because John often prefers to stay home, I joined the Caravan and Motorhome Club of Australia. It means I can go off to their monthly group camps if I want to. A new friend, Lyn from Denmark down south, is a member and she encouraged me to go along to the camp at Kulin. I was quite keen but, as it is an eleven-hour drive from home in Kalbarri, I arranged to catch up with family and friends at the same time.
Kulin is a lovely little wheatbelt town! We were very impressed. It is spotlessly clean and the locals are friendly. We parked our vans near the Visitors’ Centre at the free RV camping spot which had free amenities including hot showers. Across the road from our camp was a lovely little cafe, “Acres of Taste”, where we enjoyed a coffee, and the hotel where we had dinner one evening.
Kulin is a wheat and sheep farming community, however the town is better known for having the largest water slide in regional Western Australia as well as for holding the annual Kulin Bush Races. Although we missed the Bush Races by a week, Lyn and I did take a drive along the Tin Horse Highway, a 15km stretch that displays close to 100 community-built horse sculptures made from 44-gallon drums and scrap metal. It was a lot of fun!
As Lyn hadn’t been to Wave Rock in Hyden, we took a drive out there in Lyn’s van. She was impressed with the rock, and we were both impressed with the cafe/gift shop which had a lovely selection of cakes for morning tea.
I thoroughly enjoyed Kulin and meeting some members of the CMCA. I look forward to doing another camp with them in the future.
Narrogin
After leaving Kulin, I met up with my good friend Emma and her little boy, Will. Lyn joined us for coffee in the Narrogin Nursery Cafe and Gallery. It brought back memories for me as I used to pop into this cafe on weekends when I lived and worked at the Narrogin Agricultural College. After coffee, Lyn headed home to Denmark and Emma and I took Will to the local park so he could play and we could chat. It was a great catch up.
Fremantle
I stayed a night with Tayler on the way back home and we had a morning out in Fremantle. It has been a few years since I was there. Last time I felt it looked a bit tired, but I was pleased to see that the city had definitely revived. There are so many quirky cafes and little shops. We met for coffee at Aunt Lucy’s Cakery which had a huge selection of yummy cakes. Tayler and I always search out the best book shops and there are so many in Freo. I particularly like “Paper Bird” which has a walk-through Narnia wardrobe! We also spent ages in the “New Edition” and other independent bookshops.
I had a great week away seeing new places and meeting up with Lyn, Tayler, Emma, Sue, Susan and Lorraine. And Scout was extremely comfortable and easy to drive.
Then just a week after returning home, I was invited to another camp with friends in Kalbarri.
Lucky Bay
A lovely friend of mine, Kerry, invited me along to Lucky Bay, not very far from Kalbarri, for an overnight stay at her family’s beach shack. I was delighted as I had never actually been to Lucky Bay. I decided, however, to sleep in Scout, our camper because I feel very comfortable in there.
Our group – eleven women all of whom know each other – began arriving after lunch and we had settled in by mid-afternoon. We also thought the weather was settling in because the dark clouds rolled in and, before long, it was raining and then we had thunder. It was lovely to sit under the veranda of the shack and listen to the raindrops on the tin roof and the peels of thunder.
The storm didn’t last long so we walked up to see the beautiful sunset and spent the rest of the evening sitting around the campfire.
After a comfortable night’s sleep, we headed down to the beach the next morning for a walk, and a few even braved the cold water. It was a magnificent morning.
Lucky Bay is beautiful! And with amazing weather and a great bunch of women, we had a wonderful couple of days away.