Broome

Days 50 to 53

Monday, 23.3.09

We travelled to Broome which was ok but still very hot. Booked into a caravan park and I organised for a new headset for my bike helmet. I can't remember much else about that day.

Day 51
Tuesday, 24.3.09

Today we took in a spring from the camper which needed fixing and left it with a crash repair guy. We did some grocery shopping and just general looking around. Chris bought a fan which is making a difference to the heat.

The temperatures are supposed to get worse as we go further north which is going to make riding very slow and unsafe. I've decided to put the bike on the trailer so we can get through the heat a lot quicker until we get to the East Coast. I think around Townsville I'll get it off again and keep riding. The decision is very disappointing but I think it's the only safe way of travelling at the moment.

Day 52
Wednesday, 25.3. 09

This was a good day. We picked up the spring which was fixed beautifully, did some running around, put the bike on the trailer (emotionally hard), put the camper back on the truck, saw Malcolm Douglas Croc Farm, had tea at Maccas and saw a movie.

The croc farm was terrific! I really loved it and learnt more about crocs. We both got to hold small crocs with their mouths tied as they can still bite your fingers off.


Tea at MacDonalds was a real treat as it was in airconditioned premises as was the movie. We didn't get home until after dark and the temperature was starting to drop a little.

Exmouth to Broome

Day 46 to 49
19 March to 22 March 2009

We headed down the peninsula and did some snorkelling while enjoying the scenic coastline along the way. We passed some wild emus, kangaroos and a swagman walking with all his possessions on his back.

Kim - the snorkelling was lovely at the first place but when we went to the second, which was supposed to be the best area, I didn't have any flippers and couldn't get out because of the strong current. Very disappointing.

We headed back to Exmouth where I went for a swim in the pool and Chris just sweltered in the camper.

The following day, was a big one and we headed off to Karratha. The heat, as usual, was unbearable. We did 575 kms over 8 hours which is not a good way to travel on a bike in the heat. It's not going to happen again. As I was riding, I was pretty down because of the heat and I looked over and saw 2 emus which helped lift my spirits a bit. A bit later as I was looking at the ant hills I noticed a couple of dirty, creamy looking small boulders on the side of the road, I was checking them out and as I got closer, they jumped up and ran away. They were sheep curled up asleep and scared the daylights out of me but it was fun to see them. Then, futher down the track, I saw a burst tyre. As I got closer, it ran across the road. It was a lizard about a meter long. Not long after that, a grasshopper jumped onto my helmet visa and stayed there for about 50 km. When I eventually stopped, he was still very much alive and wasn't fussed on getting off. It was a nice change to having insects splat on me.

Karratha wasn't much fun so the next day we headed to Port Hedland. The heat was still atrocious so we tried to find a portable air conditioner for the camper, but without success. There was no shelter for us at the caravan park so I went for a swim. Port Hedland would have been interesting to stay at for a while except for the heat. We saw trains that were at least a couple of kilometres long. They looked like theyd never stop. We also BHP ore piles which were enormous, and what looked like a salt farm.

After Port Hedland, we travelled to 80 Mile Beach. We had to turn off and travel down a not so good, dusty, sandy, red road. I got 5 km down and had enough, so Chris jumped on my bike and road the rest for me. The caravan park here was lovely and shady but still hot. A chook kept visiting us which was nice. The beach was beautiful with a high tidal drop but unfortunately we couldn't go swimming as stingers are still in the area. I met a man who does a couple of hundred kilometres of coastal watch each day on his quad bikes. He has 2 sets of 2 quads. One quad will tow the other quad on a trailer with fishing rods etc. so if it breaks down he has a way of getting back. He was a lovely, interesting man to talk to.

Exmouth, National Park

Day 44
Tuesday, 17.3.09

We travelled from Coral Bay to Exmouth. It was way too hot to do anything. I tried to go for a swim in the caravan park, but got lost and then found there were too many people in the pool swimming anyway. People have raved about Coral Bay and this area but it's only great if you have a boat, lots and lots of money, air conditioning and come at the right time of the year. Everything costs a fortune and nothing seems cracked up to be how it's presented. It was a stinker of a day.

Day 45
Wednesday, 18.3.09

Exmouth to National Park

This morning we travelled to the opposite side of Exmouth's peninsula. It's supposed to be 10 degrees cooler on this side and so far, they are probably right. It's still very hot but a little more bearable. At the moment we are at Neds Camp and went in for a snorkel which was refreshing. The coral is too hard to get to from here but it was still neice and we still saw some fish.

Chris went off looking for a shadier spot and found one called Mesa Camp just around the corner from where we were. We moved there and the shade/heat is much better.

Coral Bay

were quite
Day 43
Monday, 16.3.09

Today we travelled to Coral Bay. Along the way, we came across these anthills poking up everywhere. At first I thought they were boulders and then realised what they were.



Once we arrived at Coral Bay, we settled into a beachfront caravan park and went for a snorkel. The Ningaloo Reef runs along the coast here but it's a fair way out. If you can snorkel out to the coral, you can see beautiful fish. The coral was all a browny colour when we saw it. The heat is horrible. I took a quadbike snorkel/turtle tour in the afternoon which went for 3 hours. The quadbike side of things was great but the wind made the sea too choppy to do much snorkelling (alothough I did see this blue spotted lagoon ray)



and we only got to see the turtles from a cliff swimming in the very choppy ocean. They were quite hard to pick out and very disappointing - I had expected to see them relatively close up on the beach.



By the end of the tour, I was exhausted.

Denham to Carnarvon

Day 41
Saturday 14 March 2009

We started the day by looking at a postie motorbike that was for sale in Denham. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good example and had been ridden in the salt water. We left Denham and Kim rode 348 klms to Carnarvon.

Along the way we passed a fellow who walking along beside his camper which was being pulled by his 2 camels (Billie and Snowy). Kim spoke with him for a while and apparently he had no particular destination in mind, he was just following the road. His "camper" had solar panels for power and appeared to be just large enough to sleep inside.


Before settling into a caravan park we rode the motorbike out to one mile jetty and caught the tram out to the end of the jetty and looked through the heritage museum sited near the jetty.



Along the way to the jetty a number of seafood places successfully temped us to buy some seafood. We are having crab, oysters and prawns for dinner as soon as it cools down a bit.

Monkey Mia back to Denham

Day 40
Friday, 13.3.09

This morning we were up at 6:30 to get ready to see the dolphins at 7:30. We were there quite early and saw a few dolphins swimming around. The area is now very highly regulated. We were told we could only stand in the water ankle deep and were not to touch the dolphins. There were probably about 200 or so people there. The dolphins swam up close but not too close and rarely lifted their heads out of the water. It was great to see them but very disappointing to see how much control there is.



After the dolphin show, we moved to a caravan park in Denham. The people here are lovely and more helpful than the caravan park people in Monkey Mia. We are right on the ocean and as I type I can see a kite surfer out. When we first pulled into Denham, I had to fill my bike. When I went to get back on, an emu wandered casually past and down the main road. I'm going to try to post both a picture and small video clip. The video was taken on my phone and is an mp4 so it may or may not work. The video clip is not the emu I first saw but one I saw when I walked back into Denham. Since then, I've seen several emus wandering around the place. It's great and I love it.

Kalbarri to Monkey Mia

Day 39
Thursday 12.3.09

We left 1 1/2 hours late. My ride was hot and long. It started out beautifully, which it usually does but when the heat builds up it gets very hard. We stopped early on at Murchisons river where Chris had an unsuccessful go at fishing, and the flies had a go at him.



While I was riding, I noticed the soil seems to be getting redder up here. I also saw lots of dead roos on the side of the road and smelt even more. I passed 4 large trucks each with a house on them. For the last 500 kms or so we've both been blown around by the trucks a fair bit. Normally, if I pull over to the side, I'm ok but not so recently. Today however, was much better.

We finally arrived at Monkey Mia very hot and very tired. We booked into the caravan park/resort and went in the ocean for a swim. It was really lovely. While I was outside trying to escape the heat, some emus came up and checked me out. It was really quite funny.

Cervantes to Kalbarri

Day 37-38
10-11th March 2009



We travelled from Cevantes to Kalbarri - a distance of about 250 klms. Kim's back started playing up so we stayed at Kalbarri in a caravan park on the Murchison River. It is very hot, having reached about 40 degrees with the minimum (expected late evening) of about 24 degrees. The main attraction is the beaches, the Murchison River and the Gorges of the Murchison (further inland).

We have driven around and saw some of the sights and spent time in the swimming pool trying to cool down.



On our second day at Kalbarri we watched the pelicans being fed in the morning and drove the camper out to the Gorges. We loved the sandy tracks, the odd kangaroo and the Gorges of the Murchison.



Kim went for a walk down to a rock formation called Natures Window and almost collapsed from heat exhaustion. I wasn't feeling much better sitting in the camper but at least I didn't have to contend with the swarm of flies that seem endemic to the area.

Cevantes to Geraldton

Pictures of Geraldton waterfront

Day 36
9th March 2009

We had a hot afternoon in Cevantes and decided to avoid cooking and try the local seafood platter at the Country Club. Unfortunately, the crayfish was tiny and much of the seafood was missing from the platter. At least we didn't have to cook for a change.

We didn't get away from Cevantes till around 8.30 am and travelled about 230 klms to Geraldton. It was hot (nearing 38degees) and sticky and hard on Kim with the motorbike. We hung around Geraldton for an hour or two and then headed slightly out of town to a caravan park with plenty of shade. We are currently trying to cool down under the shade of some trees and are hoping the heat will ease off in the evening.

Albany to Perth

Days 28 - 35
1st March 2009 - 8th March 2009

Albany to Pemberton

On 1st of March we travelled 291 klms to Pemberton. Along the way were some beautiful forests and plenty of rain. We stopped at a toffee factory and had lunch in Nornalup. Kim found Pemberton fairly disappointing so we headed to a campsite in the foothills outside of town called the Big Brooke Arboretum. The site was along a dirt track in the middle of a dense tall forest and it was quite magical in the rain camping out in the middle of no-where. Kim's bike was cleaned in Albany but is now covered in mud from the dirt track and wet roads.

Pemberton to Alexandria Bridge

On 2nd of March we travelled to a campsite on the banks of the Blackwood River near the Alexandria Bridge. The Blackwood river is beautiful, deep, full bodied and navigable 50-60 kms to the southern ocean. We stayed on the banks of the river and fished/kayaked for two days but didn't catch a thing.

Alexandria Bridge to Bunbury



We left Alexandria Bridge after spending 3 days without ac power or other conveniences. We travelled through Margaret River and spent time wandering around the shopping centre before leaving for the coast and checking out the Indian Ocean for our first time (above).

We travelled through alot of wine country and decided to stop at a wine tasting centre for a look.
We were shocked by the opulence of the winery as we drove up through a kilometre avenue of stately treeline road to a massive centre which appeared to be worth many millions of dollars. We felt a bit out of place and left after a quick look around while wondering how people are prepared to part with so much money for a bottle of wine.



Bunbury to Kelmscott (Perth south-eastern suburb)

Before leaving Bunbury we visited the Dolpin Discovery Centre and waited 2 hours in vain for the dophins to visit. Even though the dolpins didn't come we had a good morning in the sun and enjoyed the discovery centre.



We finally arrived at Kelmscott Caravan Park on the southern outskirts of Perth. Our first port of call on Friday, was to visit Westfields Carousel to have our modem replaced. I was expecting it to be a pain, but it all went quite smoothly after finding the right shop. The shopping centre was absolutely massive and most importantly - airconditioned! We are finding the heat a little hard to handle but the nights cool down well.

While we were here we visited Donna, Gav and Maddie. It was really good to be able to catch up with them and to meet Maddie ( a true little character who I wish I could have spent much more time with).

On Saturday, I (Kim) went into Perth. We were going to leave that day, but the wind had kept us awake pretty much all night so we decided to stay another day which let me visit Perth. The 2 best places I saw were the Swan Bells (a bell tower near the water) and an aboriginal shop.





Today, we travelled to Cervantes and are staying in the caravan park. We went out to see the Pinnacles which I really liked but Chris was disappointed in. He thought they would be much bigger. It was very very hot but for me, a real experience.