The Grampians

The Grampians 16 - 18 November 2015

Wannon Falls

Since we had to backtrack a bit to visit Chris and Michelle, we decided on travelling to to Grampians instead of the coast.

The first night we stayed at a nice little camp spot near Wannon Falls. Sarah was still tired from all the excitement at the farm, so we only had a little walk down to the waterfall where Sarah enjoyed the rock-hopping across the river.

view from 'The Balconies' parking lot and the lookout, Sarahs motivation chairs, MacKenzie waterfall and River walk, Boroka lookout

Next day we drove into the Grampians from the south end (from Dunkeld) and stopped for a 2.4km return hike called the Piccaninny. In the afternoon we set up camp on the 'old man emu' campground, a big dust patch with lots of kangaroos and hardly any water in the dam. Early next morning we drove into the heart of the Grampians, starting with a 1 km hike to 'The Balconies'. The view was stunning and the hike easy enough so that Sarah needed to be motivated from time to time. Next stop was the 'MacKenzie waterfall', a more challenging hike down to the bottom of the waterfall, including lots of stairs and hopping over rocks and water. What a great walk and view. Sarah was getting tired so we drove to a lookout to have lunch. Broroka Lookout lets you enjoy the view over the whole area and a good part of the Grampians. The last hike for the day was too much, Sarah and Martin skipped it. I quickly walked the 1.4 km to the waterfall - or water dribble - to take a picture. We drove back into Halls Gap and replenished our energy with a big ice cream so that Sarah could play again on the playground before heading home.

the Grand Canyon, morning tea on a rock, lookout over the Grampians

The morning started with a lot of fog but by the time we were ready the fog had lifted and we went back into the Gampians for one last hike. Unfortunately the 'Gand Canyon' was closed due to work on the track. Instead we did some rock hopping half way up to 'The Pinnacle' and had a beautiful view and morning tea high up on a rock.


From Victor Harbour to Mount Gambier - 10-14/11/15

Port Elliot and Victor Harbour

new and used tyre and water tank toilet
We camped in Port Elliot on the showgrounds and when Martin checked the wheels of the Jeep he discovered the difference between a new and an used-around-Australia tyre... The toilets were great as well. Round and round in circles in concrete water tanks.

horse-drawn tram, tram station on Granite Island, the causeway and 'lazy' Sarah on the walk

It was still pretty cold and windy when we visited Victor Harbour. After a coffee and waffles in a warm cafe (because we were too early for the first ride) we took the famous horse-drawn tram over to Granite Island. The trams are replicas of the original trams used for passenger transport back in 1894 to the 1950s. They were built in 1986 according to old photographs and the basic line illustrations still available. Granite Island hosts a penguin centre because it used to be inhabited by a colony of Little Penguins. Unfortunately, the numbers have declined and we didn't see any. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the ride on the tram and little walk around the island and saw some dolphins feeding in the water close by. 


Mighty Murray River - Tailem Bend

Ferry ride, the Murray River, houses and sunset in Tailem Bend, the big harvester on the wheat fields, Sarah looking at tiny little snails, The Coorong (National Park)

Next day we started our journey towards Tailem Bend and had to cross the 'mighty Murray River' at Wellington. There are free ferries operating 24h a day at various locations along the river - what a great service. For the night we stayed in Tailem Bend, a small town at the river, with beautiful old houses (if you don't have to live in them) and a great sunset. The next day was a long drive along the Coorong National Park, a lagoon that extends about 130 km from the Murray mouth near Hindmarsh Island and Sir Richard Peninsula to the southeast. The Younghusband Peninsula separates the Coorong (water part) from the Southern Ocean. It is unique due to the mix of water sources over the length of it: sea water and river water get mixed with rain- and groundwater. The water appears to be yellow-greenish, but the pictures doesn't show the true colour. It's quite unique to drive along this water for hours on end.

Kingston SE

Cape Jaffa lighthouse, Kingston court house which is now a cafe and the esplanade

We stopped in Kingston SE at the beautiful, green grassed town free camp. What a shame that you can only stay for 24 hours there. It's a nice little town with lots of old stone buildings and some interesting looking shops, cafes and restaurants. The camp was just meters away from the jetty, the playground and a long foreshore - perfect for a little run. Fishing was out - it was blowing a gale on the jetty.

Naracoorte caves and Wynns wine estate in Coonawarra

Naracoorte caves and our favourite wine estate - Wynns in Coonawarra

Next day we drove to Naracoorte and had a look at the caves. There are about 28 caves in the area and just a couple that are open to public, but only one that is self-guided. Sarah was getting a bit tired by the time we arrived, so we decided against the guided tours in the better caves and did the self guided tour in the 'wet cave'. Turns out it wasn't wet at all. After climibing down a couple of steps we found some beautiful, big pillars and a big hall. We had some fun going trough a small tunnel and looking behind some walls into the little caveties.

The highlight of the day was certainly the visit to the Wynns wine estate in Coonawarra. After all, all our wedding-wine came from this winery ;-) We didn't know that they do some white wines as well - we really liked their Rieslings. Fortunatley we didn't know about their 'premium selections' where the top 2% of the harvest are used. They sure taste good, but would have sent us broke if we had it at the wedding!

The prime wine area in Coonawarra is relatively small. It's about 14km long by 2-3km wide. This area is a limestone rock covered with red soil. Apparently the perfect combination for wine.

We stayed at a nice little free camp just outside of Penola (the IGA has the best cheese selection I've ever seen in an IGA!) between 2 lakes. Well, there weren't any lakes - they were all dried up. Seems to be the story of our trip to find most of the country in severe drought.

Mount Gambier and Michelle & Chris' apple farm 

It was Saturday, so we were keen to get early to Mount Gambier for the farmers market. Not as in Queensland, here farmers markets mean that the farmer or producer is selling what he grows and produces. Still we were surprised to see only a handful of stalls - and none of them had those grocery items we were after. We started talking to an organic apple grower, who was selling apple juice there. They kindly invited us to stay with them on their farm for the night. More from there later.

It was still early morning and so we had a look around the town of Mount Gambier. There are two sink holes there. The smaller one was in the middle of the town surrounded by some beautiful rose gardens. The bigger one is located just outside the town. It has a walkway down to the bottom where a nice garden invites to play hide and seek. The edges are overgrown with hanging plants and at some places you can go behind this curtain. There are tables and picnic spots and you might see a possum as we did.

On the other side of town are some old crater lakes. The most impressive one is called 'Blue Lake'. Due to some algae growth the water colour changes in November from a tell grey to a deep blue colour. Apparently the algae is harmless as this lake also provides a lot of drinking water to the town.

Possum at the sink hole, Blue Lake and a very happy Sarah at the Organic Orchard with Chris and Michelle

We arrived at Michelle's and Chris's place, later that afternoon. Sarah was instantly in heaven - there were about 25 chicks. The youngest as young as 30 minutes old :-) After a cup of coffee Chris and Michelle showed us around. The orchard is about 4 ha in size, with some peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries and pears, but mainly apples. There are lots of geese, ducks and chooks running freely in the orchard. They try to get the right herbivore into the orchard to keep the grass under the trees short. Again there were lots of baby animals there and Sarah had fun to catch & pad them. On the next paddock they had a goat with a baby goat as well as a cow & heifer. They borrowed the goats from friends for their milk supply since they can't milk the cow at the moment, and Michelle showed us next morning how she milks the goat. They invited us for dinner (best fish ever) and again for breakfast with fresh rolled oats soaked in apple juice, fresh goats milk and goats yoghurt. Yummy!
It was very inspirational to hear them talk about their farm and their philosophy. They guarantee that all the apples are sold to the consumer within 4 days of picking! All the fruit that goes to shops is packed into 2kg cardboard boxes with the picking date on it. If it isn't sold within 4 days they take it back and juice it. To achieve this, they have planted some 30 different varieties, so over 5-6 months there are always some apples to harvest. Instead of investing into cold room storage they have invested into an apple press and pasteuriser to deal with the excess and blemished fruit. Again the idea is to provide highest quality apple juice. And I must say it tastes delicious! At the moment they deliver as far as Adelaide some 400km away - but again the idea is to sell everything locally. i.e not further than about 200km away. In a world where everything has to be bigger - it was so good to see, that they can make a living out of a relatively small farm. The two were very generous to us and just before we left loaded us up with some fresh eggs and apple juice. Thank you very much for an unforgettable stay and hospitality.



Adelaide - together again

Eyre Peninsular

Caves before Venus Bay, Port Pirie and lots of grain fields again

There isn't much to report from the rest of the trip - the Eyre Peninsular got hit by several bad storms. When I crossed the Peninsular from Elliot to Cowell the rain and storm was so bad, that I had to stop driving for about 30 minutes. The rest of the day I spent to find a night-spot for car and caravan that wasn't flooded or required wet gravel roads to get into...

Whyalla was my next stop. The battery in the caravan has stopped charging when driving, so I got some spare parts to replace the melted fuse holder in the car. I did some washing and again was soaked by torrential rain.

It was only the next day when I started driving towards the Clare Valley that the weather improved somehow. It was a beautiful drive over rolling hills with golden grain fields ready to be harvested and some vineyards around and just after the Clare township.

There was only a short drive left on my last solo day and soon I unhooked car and caravan on the Belair National Park caravan park for the first time since Perth. I did exactly 3197km on my own - phew!  Now I was looking forward to pick up the girls the next day from Adelaide airport.

Adelaide

view onto Adelaide from Mt Lofty Summit, building and street in Adelaide, Glenelg beach

Sarah and I had pleasant flight to Adelaide but unfortunately she caught some bug or virus and came down with a fever. Gone the plans to go to the big markets and see the main attractions of the city. We spend the rest of the day at the caravan park in the Adelaide Hills. Next morning, even though Sarah was still feverish, we decided to go to the Sunday farmers market and also spend some time in a museum. We didn't see much but what we saw we enjoyed. It looks like a beautiful city with narrow streets lined with old, overhanging trees. Driving the caravan through there isn't always that easy but it sure is great to see.

Hahndorf - the German town

a church on the way, Hahndorf impressions

We spend two nights in the Adelaide Hills and than drove to Stirling and Hahndorf, Sarah still not her usual self. Both are little towns with beautiful old stone houses. Hahndorf keeps up the tourist version of 'good old Germany' and you can buy anything from sausages, beesting, Kuckucks clocks, single herbal tea bags and Munich Octoberfest beer glasses... let's say we got our german fix with "Weißwurst, süßem Senf und Bretzeln" :-)

Keep on driving 1/11/15

It's a long way with not much to see. From time to time you get lookouts to see the Bunda cliffs. But the best way to see the cliffs by far, is to drive the short distance into Head of Bight. The whale watching season has just finished there, but the view on the cliffs and water was spectacular

Bunda cliffs, roadsigns and head of bight

Shortly before the Nullarbor Roadhouse the landscape started to change and the tree-less plains very replaced by some rolling hills and the occasional grain field.

Another lonely freecamp on the way to Ceduna

Ceduna is the first town in South Australia, some 400 km after the border. It's also the checkpoint, where you have to have eaten all your veggies and fruit. ( I had a very healthy diet the last couple of days to use it all up)

Ceduna jetty, Laura Bay including an old water tank, some lizard 

I had a lovely chat to the lady at the information centre and after some grocery shopping I headed off towards Laura Bay - the place the info lady recommended. Unfortunately the place wasn't suitable for a caravan so I drove on to Haslam, a tiny little fisher town where I camped for $5 on the town camping lot.

Haslam

Next day I decided to take it slow and check out some of the local attractions around Streaky Bay. First on the list was Cape Bauer with it's whistling rocks - when the waves push into the rocks, some breather holes sound like a giant whale is breathing out. Would certainly be spooky at night if you don't know what causes this.

Another bit down the road is Point Labott - where you can look down on the only breading colony on mainland Australia of the Australian Sea Lion! Just spectacular seeing those creatures in the wild. 

Australian Sea Lion and Cape Bauer

On the way out to the main road you drive past Murphy's Haystack. A very unusual rock formation. I'm staying here for the night for the outrages sum of $2. Dennis Cash or 'Cashy' - the farmer even came down for a yarn and together with another couple we chatted until it got dark.

Murphys Haystack

Across the border 30/10/15

What time is it?

Here is an interesting bit of trivia. How many time zones exist in WA? One? Wrong! Just after you pass the Caiguna Roadhouse there is a sign to adjust the time 45 minutes forward to the Western Central Time. This zone exists only along the highway to Eucla at the SA border, 330km to the east. There are less than 100 people living in this zone.  To confuse things even more they also have Daylight savings – the rest of WA has not.  So while it is 10am in Brisbane it’s 8am in Perth and 8:45 in Eucla and 10:30 in South Australia. So crossing the border into SA, I had to adjust my watch again 1:45 forward. Now I have absolutely no clue (without looking at my watch) what time it is. Even my phone is confused – on automatic setting it jumps around between the 3 time zones like Sarah on a jumping castle.

Another fact I’ve noticed. The fuel consumption is way up. While we usually average around 15 l / 100km, the consumption is now way up to nearly 19 l / 100km. Maybe they sell bad fuel at the roadhouses or maybe the constant headwind has such a big effect.

Morning at Mandura and RFDS strip along the highway 

There isn’t much to say about the road to Eucla. It’s flat, long and boring. Oh- there was 3 stretches of road marked as airstrips for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Eucla

Just before lunch-time (can’t remember which time zone I was looking at) I arrived in Eucla. I decided to check out the ruins of the old telegraph station. The 4km gravel road was pretty good and I could see some white sand dunes in the distance.

The old telegraph station is just and old ruin, getting slowly consumed by the sand. I didn’t know exactly how far it was to the beach, but the sand under my bare feet felt fantastic and so I decided to follow a little track direction beach.  There was a stark contrast between the white sand, the green bushes and the grey clouds. After about 1km walking I arrived at the beach. WOW! The finest white sand I’ve ever seen, crystal clear water, gentle waves, an old timber jetty and beaches as far as the eye could see with no other humans in sight. All that was missing was a mermaid emerging out of the water. It was pure magic. I’m so fortunate to have visited such a beautiful place.

The old Eucla telegraph station, THE beach, sand dunes and the view across the land from a nearby lookout

I stopped again at the border Western Australia / South Australia. Everyone travelling west has to stop and is getting searched for fruit, vegies and honey as you’re not allowed to bring those items in. The South Australian checkpoint is several hundred kilometers away at Ceduna. This means I’ve got 2 more night to eat all the healthy stuff in my van.

WA/SA border and some big and wide trucks

It’s good to have the UHF radio in the car. There are a lot of road trains on this road (albeit limited to about 38m length, up north they are up to 53m long). But there are also lots of oversized trucks going both ways. The biggest so far was 5m wide.  Having the radio means you get advanced warning from the accompanying pilot vehicle and plenty of time to pull over.

The road turned now closer to the coastline with plenty of lookouts to see the Great Australian Bight. I’ve stopped at nearly every lookout. After days of not much to see it is great to get out of the car and enjoy some of the best scenery Australia has to offer.

The Great Australian Bight and parking for the night on top of some massive cliffs

I’ve stopped for the night about 80km after the border, only meters away from a 80m vertical cliff into the water. I certainly would have not stopped here if Sarah was with me.

A long drive 26/10/15

Whilst travelling we found out that Sarah's godmother, Ange, is getting married. So we decided the girls should fly back to Brisbane to attend the wedding, whilst I will tow the car and caravan from Perth to Adelaide to meet up with the family some ten days later. The most direct route is about 2,700 km and involves the crossing of the Nullarbor Plain along with some long stretches between towns and stops. At our usual pace it would take us about 3-4 week for the journey with not much to do or see. So after delivering the girls to Perth Airport and some big hugs and kisses I went back to the caravan park to get ready for the journey. I filled up all the water tanks with water and all our jerry cans with diesel. I didn't have to do any shopping as I can't take any fruit or vegetables into SA and our fridge was still pretty full of good food. 

Some big trucks on the road and the earthquake at Meckering

I drove out of Perth into the Perth hills, which was slow going as some big trucks had to take it easy in front of me. My first stop was in Meckering - the site of the biggest earthquake in Australia. In October 1968 Meckering got struck by a 6.1 earthquake.The fault line was 1.5m high and destroyed a section of the golden pipeline - the water pipeline from Perth to Kalgoorlie. It also destroyed some railway tracks. Fortunately no one got killed as the quake happened during the day and on a public holiday. So no one was working inside at the time.

I drove on past never ending wheat fields and finally setup camp near Southern Cross on the banks of another just recently flooded salt lake. I was the only one there and really enjoyed the peaceful setting.

Camp for the first night near Southern Cross, some 350km away from Perth.

Kalgoorlie

After a good nights rest, I drove on and decided to spend a couple of hours in Kalgoorlie. 

For morning tea, I stopped at the Boorabbin memorial. It remembers three truck drivers who died in a massive bushfire back in 2007. 

Interesting trees at Boorabbin

Kalgoorlie was one of the major towns during the Gold rush at the beginning of the last century. Some of the biggest nuggets ever found in the world where found in this region. There are still lots of active gold mines. The most impressive one is called the 'big pit' for being the biggest open cut gold mine in the southern hemisphere. About 31,000 people live in the region and since the wheat fields came to an end, I assume that those people are mainly supported by the gold and nickel mines in the region.

Kalgoorlie, the super pit goldmine and Kalgoorlie is also the end of the water pipeline

After taking in Kalgoorlie I drove off to Kambalda, about 50 km to the South. I stopped at another superb free camp next to the sports grounds / community centre. In the morning I was able to do some work in the library with free internet and a very helpful lady who printed and scanned some documents for me. Thanks very much Kambalda.

During the night there was a little storm and in the morning I caught up with it again on my way to Norsman

Driving into a storm

Norsman

Coming from the east, Norsman is the first town in WA when you take the Nullarbor route or the last when you leaving WA. It's still more than 700km to the SA border. Norsman is named after a horse, who dug up some gold nuggets with it's hoof, close to where this settlement now stands.

The camels at the Norsman roundabout

I drove on to the Afghan Rock. It's reached off the main road by a 5km small and narrow track. Afghan rock is a shallow granite outcrop with a nice little water hole beside. Unfortunately the storm clouds where getting closer again and I could see lightning in the distance, so I decided to drive back to the main road and camp there for the nigh. If wet, this access track would probably get flooded or at least get very boggy. Of course the clouds decided to dump the water somewhere else. It would have been another perfect spot.

Drive to the Afghan Rock

146.6 km of straight road

This is what 146.6 km of straight road looks like

Soon after starting my daily drive I've hit the longest straight road in Australia. It's 90 miles or 146.6km. Whilst it is straight it is still going up and down a little, so the view changes ever so slightly. Just before the straight stretch finishes there is a little blow hole on the side of the road. It's the entrance to a shallow underground cave and with the change in atmospheric pressure it either breaths air in or out. There are many more blowholes on the Nullarbor, some apparently create winds of up to 72km/h.

Caiguna blowhole, Distance sign at the Caiguna roadhouse and Murra El Evelyn Cave

Another little detour brought me to the Murra El Evelyn Cave. You can't get in, so all you see is a big hole in the ground with lots of birds flying in and out. I stopped for the night at the Madura Pass lookout - overlooking the vast open planes towards the Great Australian Bight. What a view!

Madura Pass Lookout

P.S.: if you follow us on Google maps we had to create a new map as Google only allows a certain amounts of points on each map. 

The current map can be found at: 

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zYDr4S0UMh08.k9B8chcP5jks&usp=sharing

The first part of the map can still be found at:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zYDr4S0UMh08.kVVEWNQhVOHc

P.P.S.: Congratulation Ange and Luke! May the knot you tied today bring you a life full of happiness!

Back to Bindoon - 22-25/10/15

Kulin

Since we had a couple of days until the girls had to fly back to Brisbane for Gotte Ange's wedding, we decided to head back to Bindoon - a small town in the Chittering shire, about 100km north of Perth. Our first stop was at Kulin, famous for it's tin-horse highway. Kulin has a famous horse race every year and to promote it, they put up a tin horse about 20 years ago. Now every year there are some new horses added, creating an interesting and funny journey into the town.

Kulin Free Camp and playground

Most of those inland towns are very friendly and very welcoming to travellers. They have fantastic facilities with playground, pool, library and more often that not - free camping in the middle of the town (thanks to a program called royalties for regions). Kulin even provides free hot showers. All they ask for, is to spend a few $$ in the local shops. This is a very welcome change from the tourist - money grab towns along the major attractions. We payed as much as $55/night for a bit of dirt to park the van, some toilets and a shower. In contrast these little towns make you feel very welcome and the locals are super friendly.

York

Grain fields all the way from Kulin to York -so not much to report there. York was the first inland town established in WA. It has lots of old stone buildings, a suspension bridge and another free camp in the middle of the town.

Beautiful old York

Bindoon

When we first travelled from Geraldton to Perth, we stopped in Bindoon for morning tea. It has a fantastic bakery and an award-winning butcher. It's set close to the Chittering Valley which was very romantic with green rolling hills and little creeks running in the valleys. So we decided to check it out a bit more. We stayed for two nights on the local sports ground. Friday night was very busy with the whole town coming to the fields and playing sports.

Lots of mazes and challenges, a jumping pillow and a game of put-put at the outback splash

To see the surrounds, we travelled to the 'outback splash' - a big maze playground with more recently a big water park added. We weren't interested in the water park - it was too cold for us. Instead we spent most of the day in the different mazes, solving some challenges and watching Sarah jump on the jumping pillow. In the end we even played a round of put put. Luckily for us we didn't fill out the score cards. Sarah would have won otherwise.
On the way back to Bindoon, we stopped at a strawberry farm where we bought the most delicious strawberries I've ever tasted in Australia! Just a shame we couldn't fill our van with it.

After checking out the local markets on Sunday, we travelled back to Perth.

Castle Rock and Wave Rock 18-20/10/15

Castle Rock in Porongurup National park

Sarahs vertical climb, the last ladder to the lookout, ramp on the top

After morning tea in Albany, which has a lot of nice, old buildings and interesting shops (unfortunately closed on Sunday morning), we drove north to climb Castle Rock. It turned out to be a 4.4 km return hike, only the last 200 m being actual rock climbing. A fair length for Sarah but we told her about the climbing part and she really walked the whole way! So proud! the walk was really beautiful, just a narrow path through the forest on a steady incline of about 350m . Sarah was so enthusiastic once we reach the rock, she started climbing straight away - vertically up the wall :-) What an awesome lookout and what a great climb!

a mobile grain silo, grain fields and landscape, a dutch windmill

Driving further towards Wave Rock, we crossed the gigantic West-Australian wheat-belt. It stretches for hundreds of kilometers, no matter which direction you drive. Scattered between those massive fields are beautiful, little towns. Usually there is a grain facility near the town with huge sheds and silos for grain storage. It's all connected by railway to send the grain to the port of Freemantle.

One of those little towns is Lake Grace. It's located right in the middle of the wheat-belt on the shore of a huge salt lake. We were lucky enough, that it rained a couple of days before and therefore the lake was filled with some water. We went to a nearby lookout to see the lake and tasted some crystallised salt on the shore. Very salty.

Lake Grace - salt lake

Waverock

Wave Rock, the 'Berlin-Wall' and Hippos Yawn

Next stop was Hyden. Famous for the 'Wave-Rock'. I was surprised how high the wave is (about 15m) and also surprised that it is only about 100m long with the actual wave even shorter. You are allowed to hike to the top of the rock, which is actually a very big granite rock. About 35 ha are fenced in by a little stone wall, about 60cm high. It looks very similar to the Berlin Wall. It's function is however, very different. It's designed to capture the rain on top of the rock so it flows towards the drinking water reservoir of Hyden. Very clever, but not the nicest of executions.

Another feature, about a kilometre away is called Hippo's Yawn for obvious reasons. There is a little walking track along the bottom of the rock and you can see where the water wall is stopping the run-off, resulting in a very dry forest. In contrast where there is no wall the forest is much greener with different vegetation.

Valley of the Giants and Tree Top Walk 16/10/15

Walpole - Valley of the Giants 

Giant Tingle tree
the Karri, Marri and Tingle trees are found all along the south west coast in the area of Walploe-Nornalup. We went for a scenic drive to see the hilltop lookout and the giant tingle tree. This particular one has a girth of 24 m and - despite it's looks - is still alive. therefore it's the largest girthed living eucalyptus known in the world.

Thurlby Herb Farm Soap workshop
Further up the road we stopped at a herb farm that also produces a large amount of hand made soap. through a window in the workshop we could watch part of the process, the cutting of a big soap block into the final shape blocks. Sarah got a little piece of still fresh soap and is now watching how it changes while drying out. It smells beautiful! 

ground level walk, sarah playing elefant, tree top walk, Sarah driving the car
Wilderness Discovery Centre and Tree Top Walk with Sarah
One of the main attraction of the area is the Wilderness Discovery Centre with the 40 m high Tree Top Walk. We all did the short walk on the ground level, the Ancient Empire walk, which leads around big, old tingle trees. Than Sarah and I did the Tree Top Walk. It's a short walk up onto a metal construction that - at it's highest point - is 40 m above ground, right in the middle of the tree tops. It looks very stable but swings a bit when more than one person walks on it and it's fairly narrow. The views are amazing and it's a great experience. Sarah just ran through it, enjoying the hight and the movement but wasn't too impressed by the trees.
The last picture is a feature in the discovery park. In the former times people used to take a 'famous' picture, driving their cars through the hollow tingle trees. To protect the trees (the root system is very sensitive to the compacting of the surrounding soil) you can take your picture in this fake old car. A lot of fun for Sarah, stirring the car and pretending to park the caravan. We played for half an hour...

Peaceful Bay and delicious fish & chips
As a treat we drove to Peaceful Bay, a beautiful little beach with nothing much there, which is said to have the best fish & chips in the whole area. It was good but it also was the most expensive fish & chips we ever had. Sarah enjoyed the beach, building and destroying sand castles and having her first go at long jumps. she go to about a meter, quite impressive, regarding the fact that she's only a meter tall. I can't jump as far as I'm tall...