North to Monkey Mia

We were up early for our trip north.  First things first: jogging, breakfast, our final pack of overnight bags, frozen homemade dinners, fruit and veg into the fridge which runs off the solar panels on the roof of the ute.  Jen helped us make up the swags with clean sheets which we had washed the night before. A quick coffee to help us on the way before we hit the road.  Oops! I forgot we had to stop off at Farmer Jack’s for some fresh greens and mandarins.  Praise the Lord I had only gone the length of Sorrento Street before I remembered!  Shopping done we were ready to hit the road.

Heading up the freeway north, we stopped off in Joondalup for petrol at the 7/11 where Vi-Lay wanted to cash in her voucher for a soft drink. Then nonstop till we reached the Pinnacles. As we drove off, I asked Vi-Lay to pass me my sunglasses as I passed her my glasses. While I had the glasses off, I commented “its ok I can see perfectly very well, it’s just a little bit blurry!”  We roared with laughter at my oxymoron, the irony of my thinking.

It was quite a drive, but a lovely warm day which we took advantage of to warm our frozen quiche on the dash.  By the time we reached the Pinnacles it was ready to eat.  This stop was about half way to our first night’s accommodation in Dongara.  The Pinnacles were amazing, covering a large area, which we drove around, stopping to take photos along the way.  They were really spectacular against the bright blue sky.  We met some very helpful Singaporeans who kindly took some photos of Vi-Lay and me for my blog.

On to Dongara, arriving in the failing light to unpack and make ourselves at home in our room, heater on to warm the place up as we were freezing. I even boiled the kettle for a hot water bottle which I’d brought with me for such an occasion.  We went to bed early as we were both exhausted from our long four and a half hour drive, most of which I had been struggling with a persistent headache.  I think it might have been due to the poor sleep I’d had the night before, so I took something to help with the headache and the sleep.  We both slept well.

In the morning we had a bit of a challenge making our usual porridge as there was only a kettle and microwave.  Praise the Lord we had a butane cooker and cooking pots in the ute.  Jen has nearly everything in her ute.  Porridge made there was another challenge as we hadn’t found the handle for the pot, which obviously had one as it was a set.  We found it later when we were cooking breakfast the following day.  Yes, in the back of Jen’s ute in one of her many drawers.

Leaving Dongara at 9am, we headed along the coast to Geraldton, where we planned to have our morning coffee break at McDonalds.  Vi-Lay had a midmorning snack and I a coffee.  The barista was very helpful in suggesting interesting spots to visit while in Geraldton:  the iconic Geraldton Lighthouse which has little replicas around the town, HMAS memorial on the top of a hill with views of the town and just north was The Pink Lake.  We visited all three before continuing north through Kalbarri to Murchison Station, where we had booked two nights camping.

We arrived well before sunset to set up camp and organise ourselves.  First we had our early dinner/late lunch (Vi-Lay has fallen into my routine of eating breakfast then one more meal before 4pm). Murchison had a wonderful camp kitchen, which we made the most of for dinners and breakfasts. We then set up our campsite. Jen had suggested we put up the big tent and sleep side by side but both Vi-Lay and I prefer to sleep with a bit of distance between us so there is less chance of disturbing the other.  Jen had also said she had slept in the back of the ute on one occasion when it was very wet, so we decided I’d set up the small tent which I’d used previously en route to Cairns last year and Vi-Lay chose to sleep in the back of the ute away from any bugs.  The challenge was getting her up to this towering height!  Praise the Lord, Jen had thought of this too and provided a two-step ladder!  Yes, I told you she had just about everything!  This was just what Vi-Lay needed to clamber up.  Once set up, we went for a walk along the Murchison River where we spotted a kangaroo with a very large bulging pouch.  Back to camp and an early shower before anyone else occupied them.

At first we were quite concerned about the young couple camping beside us as they were eating late, had a fire pit blazing and bright spot lights which shone in our direction.  Fortunately, when we climbed into our swags around 7pm, they also packed up for the night.  The night was quite cold, I was glad I was rugged up and had two sleeping bags on although during the night I found it was too hot.  As I was dozing off, I could hear a distant Tawney Frog Mouth Owl calling out to his mate, then other night creatures rousing for the night.

Once again I didn’t sleep well, although it was fairly quiet, and I only heard the generator in the distance a few times during the night. I woke just after 2pm and was awake till around 4 when I dosed off till 6pm.  Finally dragging myself out of bed and off for a jog to wake myself up.  I met Vi-Lay on her morning walk along the river admiring the pelican which was fishing there.

After our morning ablutions we packed some things into the ute, leaving the tent set up to mark our spot and drove the ute to the kitchen area where we made breakfast, this time with the handle attached to the pot  Having eaten and things packed away, we drove out to the Kalbarri National Park.  There were a few things we wanted to see, including the Sky Walk, Natures Window and Zigzag before returning to camp for our early dinner, shower and relax in the common room. It was an amazing day, so sunny and warm, although on the Sky Walk we were nearly blown away.  There were lots of wonderful photo opportunities and some wonderful wild flowers to admire too.

Back at camp we cooked up another delicious meal from some leftovers, showered, parked the ute, then returned to the common room where I diligently wrote up the past two days and Vi-Lay enjoyed a book I had lent her.  We also didn’t want to go to bed to early like we had the previous night.

Not wanting another restless night, I took something to help me sleep and although it didn’t stop me tossing and turning, I was able to go back to sleep and woke just before 6am.  It was freezing, much colder than the previous night, but I was still determined to go for my jog. I went a different route to avoid all the rocks and uneven ground.  This track took me past the station homestead and their work sheds to some paddocks where I saw quite a few mobs of kangaroos.  Then back in time for a shower. We then packed up camp, leaving Vi-Lay’s swag folded up in the back on the ute and mine rolled up still in the tent, as this would make our next unpack and set up a lot quicker. Once packed, we stopped at the camp kitchen for breakfast. Our routine was now set with all our breakfast needs kept in a plastic basket, to which we add what was needed from the ute fridge. We also had bathroom bags with all that’s needed for our showering, with clean underwear and either our night wear or our day wear, making it easy to find things before heading to the bathrooms.  Unfortunately that morning I had forgotten to put a clean pair of undies into the bag and had to wrap my towel around me with my boots on and walk back to the ute.  It did look very funny.

On the road again by 9:30am heading north, only stopping for petrol before arriving at Monkey Mia 4 ½ hrs later.  We set up camp, then grabbed our breakfast basket and filled it with our dinner food and headed to the communal kitchen, which was empty at 3pm.  I’m so glad we eat early as by 7pm it was full of families, couples and young campers preparing their evening meal. We still had time to go swimming in the pool where Vi-Lay wanted to try out her snorkel and goggles before we go to the islands. The water was freezing!  A hot shower to warm up, then a wander along the beach to enjoy the sunset before returning to the kitchen to read and use the computer to write up the day’s activities.

What a terrible disappointment the campers were!  Firstly, the family that set up camp beside us set up their tent for the children very close to my tent.  I moved the ute, then my tent, so that it was on the other side of the ute as far away as possible from the kids.  Then after we had settled in for the night, not far from us there was a group of about 8 youths who were loudly enjoying themselves.  Praise God they complied to the camp rules of 10pm cut off.  This was not the case for another couple who woke us up after midnight with loud talking, I mean very loud talking as they strolled through the camp!  So inconsiderate of other campers who were sleeping.  I called them the ‘Naughty Nordics’ as it sounded like they were speaking a Nordic language.  I was very appreciative of the sleeping tablet I’d taken, which helped me get back to sleep quickly, waking at 6:30am.  The wind had been howling all night whistling around the tent and was still blowing in the morning which put me off my jog.  I also wanted to be ready for the early morning dolphin viewing at 7:45am.  Up for a shower, dress and begin a bit of packing as we were also starting our journey south, back to Perth.

We gathered with the crowd along the foreshore to view the dolphins. It was still windy and cold, only two dolphins showed up which was a real let down as I had expected at pod of at least five or six putting on a show for us.  Well I suppose it’s not a theme park!  Vi-Lay later said it’s nothing to write home about.  My reply was “well I am writing about it! On my blog”.  LOL

Back to pack up camp. Our final pack as we headed for motel accommodation for our last night. With everything packed into the ute, we headed south for a coffee stop at the Billabong Roadhouse.  There were raving reviews for good food and real coffee.  What a shock when I was given terrible tasting coffee WITHOUT crema or frothed milk!  And what’s more I had asked for NOT hot and it was so hot I had to add more of my own cold milk to cool it down before I could drink it!  Well I certainly will not be giving it good reviews!  And yes I am a coffee snob – I’m a barista!  Poor Vi-Lay had to put up with my ranting and raving about coffee for the next 20 mins!

In response to a later conversation in the ute when I was talking about plants, Vi-Lay replied “if we remove the scent wont they die”.  “What?” I responded.  “Oh, oh” she said “I was falling asleep and was dreaming, I have no idea what I said or why, it had something to do with poaching bears!” This sent us into more laughter.

Next stop was Northampton, a small historic town with old colonial stone buildings and the first train carriages ever made in WA, from Fremantle  Being a Sunday, most shops were closed except one café which really didn’t have anything interesting, so we drove on to Carnarvon.  Here we found our accommodation before heading back to the town centre for a traditional pub dinner at 4pm, then a stroll along the foreshore to help our digestion as they were such large meals.  En route back, we went via the beach to see where we might have a swim the following day.  I inquired of one of the locals what the water was like and was told there was often a strong current running along the shore.  Back at our accommodation we unpacked our overnight supplies before I took a quick, very icy dip in the pool.  With Vi-Lay’s help, I moved the single bed mattress out to the lounge room so we could sleep in separate rooms so as not to disturb each other during the night.

All the same, even though I took something to help me sleep, it didn’t work! I woke twice, the second time I was awake for a couple of hours so my planned jog and swim down the beach the next morning never happened.  Vi-Lay did a short walk while I had a bit of a lie in.  Once again we were off again by 9:30am.  We stopped at what sounded like a reasonable coffee place, Alisha’s Café, but it was actually part of a service station, not a separate café.  I’m very sceptical of these places, so we held off till we got to Jurien Bay where I had googled a coffee place.  I was so relieved there were trained baristas who were able to make a coffee to my standards. It was delicious!  Vi-Lay had a meat pie, I think she is missing her lunchtime meal, not yet adapted to my two meals a day.

En route home we stopped off at Whitfords Shopping Complex to look for inflatable swimming rings. Why did we need floaties?  Vi-Lay was concerned about her inability to stay afloat while admiring the coral on the islands.  This idea was sparked while chatting to a mum with a toddler in the Monkey Mia pool. We both thought it was a great idea, so I got them also. We also stocked up on our bananas which we both love to have with our breakfast.  We were now half an hour later than our estimated arrival time home.  I pulled up outside my unit so we could unpack the ute.  Jen, who was enjoying her afternoon snooze, came out to greet us.  She had prepared a lovely dinner.  We felt very blessed to be back home with our comfy beds and familiar surroundings.

We have had such glorious weather while away, warm sunny days followed by more warm sunny days.  We couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Our next adventure is only 3 days away.  This time we are off on an overseas holiday, a tropical island adventure with sun, sea and sand.  I will be on Christmas in July!  Literally!

Photo:  1. Hakea flower Kalbarri National Park 2. Vi-Lay and me with the ute 3. Light house Geraldton 4. Pink Lakes 5. Murchison River from campsite at the Station 6. Kanagaroo 7. Vi-Lay and me on our first camp night 8. Our first camp set up 9. Kalbarri National Park the Window 10. Monkey Mia 11. Northampton

Prayer & Praise Points:

Praise God for His amazing grace.  For watching over Vi-Lay and I as we ventured north along the coast of WA.  What wonderful weather, journeying mercies, good health, amazing scenery and a great time together.  We could see the Hand of God leading, guiding and providing for us all the way.

Please pray for the same covering as we head for the islands.

Pray with me for peace in Europe, for all who are caught up in the suffering the war has caused, both in Ukraine and Russia.

Please pray the Lord will continue to bring comfort to all those affected by the floods in NSW.

Please continue to pray for my sisters, Tricia, Jen and Kat to come to know Christ’s love for them.