JOURNAL 2007

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January 2nd 2007 (Tuesday)

We have been surprised by the difference between the caravan and the bus on really hot days. It turns out that the caravan is far better insulated and (with the help of the air-conditioner) stays much cooler that the bus when the temperatures head up into the high thirties.

January 4th 2007 (Thursday)

After a good 24 hours or so of non-stop rain we discovered another three leaks in the caravan roof. None were severe but all were annoying considering we haven’t been anywhere since the last rain and the leaks weren’t there last time ?? The good news was that the leak I attended to has been stopped but now I have three more to find.

As the rain stopped this morning we took off on a trip around the area to see Meckering, Cunderdin, Tammin and Wyalkatchem. There wasn’t much of note at Meckering but Cunderdin was much more inspiring.

For some strange reason the good folks at Cunderdin seem to have decided to take temporary leave of their sanity and have allowed the monstrosity of an ‘Ettamogah Pub’ to be built in their nice little town. This hideous monstrosity may not be out of place in the cheap and nasty Gold Coast but in a quaint, historic town like Cunderdin it stands out like the proverbial dunny in the desert. We officially hate ‘Ettamogah Pubs’. They belong in the pages of a comic book, not on the heritage streets of our towns.

To make up for this awful lapse in judgement, the Cunderdin museum (housed in the old number three pumping station) is one of the best regional museums you will find anywhere. A donation is requested and if you visit you will feel giving a few dollars to help keep this excellent museum operating is well worth while.

East again to Tammin and a small town with an unusual facility called the Hydrology Model. We are still not sure what it is all about but think all the money wasted on it could have been much better spent giving the locals somewhere to swim.

We turned south (briefly) to visit Hunt’s Well. Charles Cooke Hunt was very important in opening up a track to the goldfields (before anyone knew there was gold there) and this is one of the many important wells and dams he constructed that were used by others as they opened up the country east of York.

Next was Wyalkatchem, quite a nice little town on the old goldfields route that is bypassed by many in favour of the Great Eastern Highway.

The highlight of the day, without doubt, was the Cunderdin Museum and good stops along the way include Cunderdin Caravan Park, Hunt’s Well and Wyalkatchem Caravan Park.

January 11th 2007 (Thursday)

Took a trip to Toodyay to have another look at the town, this time in a bit better detail. After that we went south to Clackline, Bakers Hill, Wundowie, Wooroloo, Chidlow and finally took a look at Noble Falls – which were very dry this time of the year.

The last place I want to see before we go back to the bus is Jennacubbine Tavern but we may still be away for another week or so.

January 16th 2006 (Tuesday)

Sunday was a very hot day with official temperatures being given as 40C but we put a thermometer outside in the shade and it registered 43.9C. It was enough to defeat the air conditioner which continually turned off the compressor. As we have been told that February gets even hotter round these parts we will be heading off at the end of the week.

As we have contemplated heading south with the caravan instead of the tent we did a ring around of the caravan parks this morning and following are the results:

Park Daily Weekly

Bunbury area

Australind 24 138

Leschenault 17 119

Binningup 20 140

Bremer Bay

Bremer Bay 22 154

Fishery Beach 25 150

Capel Closed down

Denmark

Denmark 22 154

River Mouth 22 140

Hopetoun 21 126

Kirup 20 90

Margaret River area

Gracetown 23 138

Canal Rocks Closed down

Caves 30 210

Yallingup 50 350

Augusta

Doonbanks 22 154

Flinders Bay 23 140

Molloy Island 25 175

Westbay 22 130

Turner 24 135

Most of these prices are out of our reach and some are nothing but daylight robbery. I wonder how much longer people will be able to afford to travel?

January 23rd 2007 (Tuesday)

We are all packed up and ready to head off around the south west with the camping gear. We were trying to work out the last time we went away camping and worked out that it would have been in 2001 and then it was only a few days at Gooralong. (After checking it was actually 2003 at 40 mile when we last put the tent up but then we also had the Coaster as well so that doesn’t really count.) This could be quite a big trip as plan ‘A’ is to head down through Collie, then Donnybrook, Bunbury, Busselton, Margaret River, Augusta, Bridgetown, Nannup, Manjimup, Windy Harbour, Walpole, Denmark, Albany then possibly across to Hopetoun and east of Esperance. Whether we get that far will depend on both the weather and how much we enjoy tenting again.

If we do the full trip we expect to be away 3-4 weeks. By that time we are hoping that the caravan will have sold and we can plan a trip east at last. Our last attempt at going away with the Cruiser and trailer ended after just 3 nights but that time we didn’t have all the camping gear and (as I remember) it managed to rain quite a lot.

January 24th 2007 (Wednesday)

After a brief stop in Collie to do some last minute shopping we went south to Glen Mervyn Dam. The dam has a boat launching area just south of the turn off to the campsites on the western side so if (like us) you miss the track north of the dam you can turn around at the boat ramp and go back.

There is room for a couple of caravans near the boat ramp but most of the ground is quite uneven. The track north of the dam is corrugated but passable by 2wd and most of the tracks leading south to the waters edge would be suitable for 2wd vehicles.

The dam is used by water skiers etc. so can be quite noisy at weekends – we aren’t much looking forward to this long weekend but hope for the best. During weekdays the dam seems mostly quiet and peaceful apart from the odd boat or two that comes down for a couple of hours.

January 25th 2007 (Thursday)

Campers starting to arrive today but apart from the boat noise – that is only to be expected here – it was a reasonably quiet night.

January 26th 2007 (Friday)

Very busy on the water with ski boats going round and round all day. Surprisingly little noise after 10pm though.

January 27th 2007 (Saturday)

Noisy day and night, I will be glad when everyone heads back home tomorrow. The big engines of the boats wear on your nerves after a while.

January 28th 2007 (Sunday)

Finally everyone left and we had the lake to ourselves. What a wonderful spot this is when it is quiet. Swimming in the dam has kept us quite cool as the weather was hot over the weekend. Time to move on tomorrow as the march flies are coming out in force here and we are being constantly bitten.

January 29th 2007 (Monday)

Rain and thunder overnight but we want to move further south so packed up camp and drove down through Donnybrook (very pretty little town), Capel, Busselton and had a look at the campsites at Conto Road and Boranup Drive before deciding on stopping at Alexandra Bridge.

It was at this point that I decided that camping is just too difficult these days. Packing and unpacking in the same day was a bit too much for me and I think this is as far as we will go on this trip.

Alexandra Bridge is still a terrific campsite but it is very well known now and gets quite crowded. Fees are now $5 per person per day or $60 a week. We decided to stay a week and look around the area at other sites without moving camp again.

January 30th 2007 (Tuesday)

Went down to see Augusta as we haven’t been here in a very long time (probably 12 years or more). Apart from some better shops the town was very much as we remember it, quiet, laid back and tranquil. Thankfully it hasn’t been overdeveloped yet and I hope it never will be.

We drove the 40km north to Margaret River to find a totally different atmosphere. This town has been subject to lots of development and has a busy bustling feel to it. The contrast with Augusta is striking and if the two towns keep their separate climates then there will be something for everyone in the area.

February 1st 2007 (Thursday)

Went to have a look at some other campsites in the area and the first on the list was at Hut Pool. Southern access if from Brockman Highway and the Great North Road – much better named the Old North Goat Track. Very rough in places and would be difficult for 2wd. Hut pool doesn’t offer much apart from a toilet and a couple of tent sites. A nice tranquil spot but no good for most travellers.

Next was Sue’s Bridge campsite that has been extensively re-developed. You can no longer camp by the river as the campsites have been moved up the hill. Still a very nice place with toilets and a camp kitchen. Bays are a bit small for anything but a small caravan or campervan and it is a CALM site so no dogs are allowed. CALM fees are now $6.50 per person per night but at least there is now a concession rate of $4.50 per person per night. We think this is still a bit high but at least it is a little better than it was.

Finally we went out to look at Campbell Pool (where we camped once before in the campervan) and Rosa Pool a bit further north. This is a nice little spot but only suitable for campervans and tents due to the track leading in. It is only a short distance from the road but a 90 degree bend around a fence post would stop most caravans and big rigs from getting in.

February 3rd 2007 (Saturday)

Alexandra Bridge is getting too crowded for our liking so we have decided to head home tomorrow. Today we went and had a look at the coast near Margaret River and found a lot of new development there as well. It won’t be long before the place has far too many houses and it will be ruined for ever.

Along the coast to Redgate Beach we found another popular area that is still much as it was many years ago.

Further south at Hamelin Bay we found a much less developed area where the peaceful waters invite swimmers and boaties alike. Hopefully development in this area will be contained around Margaret River and won’t be allowed to spread right along the coast.

Another stop off at Augusta to soak in the peaceful estuary and a lunch of crackers, pate and cheese before heading back to Alexandra Bridge to start packing up.

It is little wonder that the area between Busselton and Augusta is so popular. It is one of the most interesting places in the state and certainly one of the most beautiful. There is plenty to do and see and it caters for both the rich and poor (like us) alike. You just have to hope that greed doesn’t become king down here and the area is allowed to stay pretty much as it is now.

February 4th 2007 (Sunday)

Packed up and on the road by 8am. Drove up through Nannup, Bridgetown, Boyup Brook, Arthur River and Williams before getting home some 5.5 hours later. The drive from Nannup to Boyup Brook is both picturesque and tiring as the roads are very lumpy and winding as they make their way through the hills.

One thing this trip has taught me is that I won’t be trying to go tenting again anytime soon. Age and infirmity are catching up with me in a big way and tenting is now well beyond my capabilities.

Even though we didn’t get to see everything we wanted to we did get to a few new places and we actually enjoyed seeing Augusta so much that we are now in the process of packing the caravan to head back down there next week.

February 10th 2007 (Saturday)

After a couple of nights down at Oakford we have moved south to the rest area on Ludlow – Tuart drive just north of Busselton. It is still the pleasant shady site we came to in December 1997. Busselton is managing to remain a reasonable sort of town despite the development that is going on in the area and if the sheer number of caravan parks are anything to go by then it is the most popular tourist destination in the state.

Dunsborough on the other hand has had far too much development and (at least in my opinion) has been ruined.

We expect to move on to Augusta tomorrow and with luck we will be there for a few weeks at least. We have been spending far too much on fuel lately and need to sit still for a while to save some money.

February 15th 2007 (Thursday)

We are all set up at Westbay Retreat and have already had the boat out once to ‘test the waters’. We didn’t catch any fish where we used to go fishing in the Hardy Inlet but we did catch 25 whiting near the mouth of the river (although we only took 4 to eat). Crabs are supposed to be running at the moment so we may give that a go next time.

Westbay Retreat is what all caravan parks should be. There is plenty of room and sites are spread around the place and not all laid out in horrible little rows. There are open sites and shady sites and some excellent tent sites under the trees. The most interesting thing about the park is the very unusual ablution block. It is a semi open style and would be very much at home up I the Kimberleys. How well it works here in the chilly winter I am not sure but it is quite an amazing structure.

At $130 a week for a powered site the park is at the upper end of our budget but it is nice and quiet (at the moment anyway) and has a great laid back atmosphere. There is even a boat ramp so we don’t have to drive anywhere to launch the boat.

Latest wish list:

1.New computer (done)

2.Video camera (done)

3.Sine wave inverter (done)

4.New deep cycle for the car

5.Sell old caravan (done)

6.Service car (done)

A short but very expensive list. I wonder if we will manage to get all of them done? (All done before the end of 2007)

February 18th 2007 (Sunday)

Took the boat out to see if there are any crabs in the inlet and found that there aren’t many. With the number of boats and nets out every day it is a wonder there is a single crab left but at least we did managed to get three legal sized ones so Belle was happy enough.

Here I am very relaxed about fishing, actually I don’t care if I catch anything or not, but when we go north I get much more hyped up. I guess it’s because down here I don’t expect to catch anything worth while anyway so if I don’t then it doesn’t bother me.

One oddity we did catch was what looked like some sort of bream but it had bright blue spots almost like a spangled emperor from up north. We certainly haven’t seen a fish like that before. It wasn’t any kind of size so we let it go again anyway.

February 20th 2007 (Tuesday)

Took the boat out again and went up the Blackwood River this time. This is a wonderful tranquil river with very little habitation on the banks. The echo sounder showed a number of fish along the banks but most weren’t interested in the nice juicy prawns that were on offer. We did finally catch three tarwhine but as they weren’t quite size we let them go again. It is a real joy just motoring slowly along the river looking at the thick bushland that lines the banks.

Since we have been here the weather has been pretty typical for this area, a bit of sun, a bit of rain, some cloud, some blue sky, warm and then cool – all in the space of an hour (well maybe that is exaggerating a little.)

February 27th 2007 (Tuesday)

Took the boat out again to try and get a few more crabs and did actually catch 4. One was the biggest blue swimmer we have ever caught. The day was beautiful, clear blue sky and warm. We did catch a few fish as well including small Australian salmon, King George whiting and what we think may be juvenile snapper (the bream like things with bright blue spots). Nothing was big enough to keep so we put them back again but it was still a lot of fun.

February 28th 2007 (Wednesday)

Today was the complete antithesis of yesterday. We had to get up early and have the car at Busselton by 8am so we left in the dark. It was windy and rainy most of the day. The reason for taking the car to Busselton to get it serviced was price. The mechanic down here wanted $242 for a simple diesel service. It was cheaper (including fuel there and back) to get the work done in Busselton.

On the way back we stopped in at Yallingup and Cowaramup to take a few photos and the sea was pretty angry. No surfers out today.

March 8th 2007 (Thursday)

Labour Day long weekend has gone (HOORAY!) and with it all the noisy dickheads that pour out of Perth like bull ants charging out of an ant nest. The caravan park is now nicely coated in dog poo because everyone ignores the ‘keep the b&**#y dog on a leash’ rule and lets the damn things run everywhere. I can understand why most parks now ban dogs – lots of dog owners are irresponsible morons!

The weather has been hot over the past few days – even getting to 35C here yesterday. All the locals were sweating it out as hardly anyone has air conditioning here. Today we took the boat out for the 4th time but only caught three crabs. Lucky for Belle 2 were big and worth keeping.

March 16th 2007 (Friday)

Out crabbing again today, again we only caught 3 but they were all big males. To our surprise we also caught 4 ‘size’ King George whiting.

We have already been here 5 weeks and will have to start making plans to move on soon. Easter is coming and we really want to be away from tourist areas before it arrives. At this stage we are thinking that Kendenup might be Ok for a couple of weeks.

March 21st 2007 (Wednesday)

Took the boat out to see if we could find a few more whiting – having given up on crabbing as being too much work for too little reward – and went back to the spot we caught them last time. Again to our surprise we caught whiting, this time King George and sand whiting and managed to come home with 9.

March 27th 2007 (Tuesday)

Our time at Augusta is gradually coming to an end as the weather starts to get colder and wetter and my joints start to stiffen up – getting old is such fun!

On Sunday we managed to get out In the boat again and caught a few more whiting plus 3 herring. Although the fishing and crabbing here hasn’t been spectacular we have managed to bring home something every time we have been out which is pretty good really. I have been surprised at the size of the whiting with the biggest measuring a pretty reasonable 35cm.

We caught a lot of undersized whiting this time that we had to throw back but we did bring home 5 that were size.

By the time we leave we will have been here 7 weeks. The time has flown which means we have been enjoying ourselves. Our next stop is somewhere between Kendenup and Tambellup for Easter and once all the tourists go home we think we may go down to Albany for a while before working out what the next step will be. There is some work needed on the car as the front diff seals need attention and the brakes need fixing so we are hoping that Jordan (who re-built the engine) in Albany will be able to do the work for us.

March 29th 2007 (Thursday)

A nice clear day today so we took the boat out one last time but this time we came home empty handed. We did catch one herring and one whiting but let them go.

The rain is due back by Saturday so we are packing the boat up today and the annexe tomorrow. It has been a very nice 7 weeks here but I have just about run out of research material in the local libraries so it is time to move on somewhere else. Even if the Easter long weekend wasn’t looming like a noisy black cloud on our peaceful horizon we would have to be heading away from here soon anyway as we expect the weather to get steadily colder and wetter.

April 3rd 2007 (Tuesday)

Left Westbay heading for Tambellup and stopped overnight at the observatory by Lake Muir (after brief stops at Pemberton and Manjimup).

The roads up to about half way were reasonable but hills and bends through Pemberton and Manji meant speed was way down and fuel consumption was way up.

Lake Muir is hardly a lake these days. Most of it has evaporated and what water we could see in the far distance may have actually been a mirage. The setup by the lake would be good if there was anything to look at but the THREE MILLION DOLLAR price tag seems to be a huge waste of money when we need more hospitals, schools etc…. I wonder which politician’s mate got rich out of that contract. (Turns out it was that little crook Omodei.)

The site is a good spot to overnight as there is a toilet and tank water. There is room for a couple of vans but not a huge amount of space along the turning circle as it has been mostly designed for car parking.

April 4th 2007 (Wednesday)

Arrived at Tambellup and settled in. The caravan park really isn’t much more than a car park with power poles and water taps. Strangely the water taps are clustered in their own area away from the power poles but we have just enough hose to fill the tanks.

Apart from a big dog barking at night (waking us 3-4 times) the area is very quiet and there is no one else in the park so most of the time it is nice and quiet.

April 5th 2007 (Thursday)

Followed our usual pattern after arriving in a new town and joined the local library, had a look at what shopping there is and got ourselves sorted out.

Once Easter is over we will head back to the bus to pick up a few things then we have to get down to Albany to get the car sorted out. There is the slight possibility of house sitting near Margaret River after that but we won’t know more on that until we sort the car out.

April 10th 2007 (Wednesday)

We have been in Tambellup just over a week and we took the opportunity today to take a 180km trip up to the bus and pick up a few bits and pieces we needed. The weather has been dull and drizzly for most of the time since we left Augusta and only started to clear a bit today.

We have the car booked in for some work next Tuesday so we need to be in Albany by then. We will probably head south to Kendenup tomorrow and then go on to Albany in Sunday.

April 14th 2007 (Saturday)

Well the Kendenup plan went out of the window because of the weather forecast (it was wrong anyway) and we went straight down to Albany. We decided to try Kalgan River caravan park and are now regretting that decision based on the noise going on from some sort of function here. At the moment I have a set of headphones on and am listening to music and I can hear the racket going on coming in over the top of that! B&**#Y RIDICULOUS!!

As soon as the car is sorted out we will be away from here as quick as we can.

May 19th 2007 (Saturday) (5 fishing days)

More disasters! The lack of diary entries for the last month is an indication of the first one – the horrible Toshiba laptop died just as I sat down to do a backup and I lost all the work I had done since Albany. Most of it can be re-entered but all the photos we took on the way north have been completely lost.

Secondly I managed to destroy the annexe on the caravan and we are now up at Cleaverville for the next 3 months with no shelter on one side of the caravan. I won’t go into details about the accident but needless to say a 2 ton Landcruiser and a canvas and aluminium annexe don’t mix well.

The car was sorted out at a cost of around $1200 <sigh> and we made our way north through wind and rain to Cleaverville once again. We did plan to go to 40 Mile this year but changed our minds at the last moment. We came up the inland road this time and will have to go that way again one day to recover some of the lost photos.

Yesterday we picked up a new computer (just under $700 which is a good price) from Retra Vision but the annexe repairs will have to wait until we head south again as we have no intention of moving the van until we leave.

Fishing has been pretty good so far. We have been here 2 weeks (last Thursday) and have already been out 5 times. There has been quite a variety to the catches including 3 types of shark, emperor, cod, mackerel (including some Spaniards), flag, tusk fish, queenfish (lost the picture to the big one I caught!) and sundry other types including a huge frog fish with a huge mouth and some fearsome teeth.

The catching of the queenie is another good fishing tale because when we first spotted it I wasn’t rigged up for catching that sort of fish. We had been at another reef where my heavy line had been busted off and I hadn’t re-rigged. We dropped anchor at a new reef and I hooked a small tusk fish. As I brought it up a huge shape materialised behind it and we quickly recognised it as a large queenfish. To keep the queenie around I left the tusk fish swimming about on the end of the line just under the boat. This kept the queenie entertained while I hurriedly rigged up the heavy line, got a gardie on a gang hook and dropped it in front of the queen fish. After being teased by the tusk fish the queenie took one look at the gardie and lunged at it but in the process managed to get foul hooked in the belly. Anyone who has hooked a big queenie in the mouth will have some idea of their fighting power but hooking one in the belly more than doubles their fighting power. As usual we didn’t get the anchor in quick enough and the fish almost got tangled up in the line but some quick work from Belle meant I was able to get the fish away with no complications. Eventually we landed it and it became a very tasty few meals barbequed with lemon pepper.

A lot of people don’t think much of queenfish but we like it if it is eaten fresh. The meat is white, firm and not at all strong tasting. If cooked properly it is nice and moist and done with lemon pepper on the BBQ it is brilliant!

Sadly the picture didn’t survive the computer crash so I don’t have a shot of the biggest queenie I have ever caught to show off (curses!).

5th Full moon +3 6:05 1.5 / 12:00 4.6

4 flag

6th Full moon +4 6:30 1.57 / 12:27 4.53

Spaniard, snapper, 6 garfish

10th Half moon 8:39 2.32 / 15:05 3.72

Snapper, flag, 42 garfish

14th Dark moon -3 2:23 1.91 / 8:30 4.02

2 Snapper, 45cm cod

15th Dark moon -2 3:12 1.7 / 9:12 4.38

The solar system isn’t exactly holding its own at the moment and because the weather is still hot we are using the generator to run the air-conditioner most days. This has resulted in a higher than usual fuel bill but having the added comfort is worth it.

20th May 2007 (Sunday)

Dark moon +3 6:30 1.47 / 12:33 4.72

An unexpected fishing day presented itself today and we went out trying to catch enough fish to use the frames for crab bait. In the end we came back with enough for 8 nets so mission was pretty much accomplished.

The best fish of the day was a nice Spaniard which we have just fried up on the BBQ with lemon pepper. Needless to say there are no leftovers.

The computer is more or less back together, all I have to do not is catch up on all the work I lost…..

Weather wise it looks like it is starting to cool down a little, night time temp last night was 17C and the days are cooling down a bit too.

29th May 2007 (Tuesday)

Full moon -3 3:08 2.07 / 9:04 3.93

Gavin and Tracey (travelling in Hobohome) are back at Cleaverville again heading north again on their travels. Gavin helped us out with getting satellite signal and now we have Select TV again after quite a few weeks without it.

Yesterday they went over to the island in their canoes and brought us back a little present (see below) which was very much appreciated. They actually go diving in these waters, a place that I am too chicken to even wade knee deep because of an ongoing terror of sharks. We have seen some big specimens up here and the closest I want to get to the sea is sitting on it in a boat.

We went fishing ourselves but only managed one Spanish mackerel and a couple of flag but still it covered dinner for a couple of days.

So far this year we have caught most of our fish in quite close to shore. The outer reefs just aren’t producing anything but undersized tusk fish and undersized snapper. Unfortunately I have been having all sorts of back problems and have had to cut short some fishing trips. Still just being up here away from the cold is great so I can’t grumble. A couple of big orange ‘horse pills’ usually does the trick if the pain gets out of hand.

The weather is slowly (very slowly) cooling off but night time temps are still just under 20C. The easterly winds look like they have set in for the next week so no fishing for a while. We have been out to the reefs 7 times so far and once to the creek so we are pretty happy with the season so far.

I am still trying to get the computer back to full working order and haven’t got everything sorted out yet but sooner or later I will get it all working properly. (It actually took until December to get the horrible thing mostly sorted out!)

9th June 2007 (Saturday)

Almost 2 weeks now with no fishing as the wind has been back to its usual tricks.

We did make the decision to buy a new generator even though the old one is running well. We hope to sell the old one for about half the price of the new one and that way ensure we have trouble free power for the next few years. Honda currently have a $200 cash back offer so the new one set us back $1950. We hope to get around $900 for the old one.

14th June 2007 (Thursday)

The bad news that the wind is still blowing has been overshadowed by good news (what a nice change) that the old caravan finally sold HOORAY!!!

Even better the old generator sold for $900 so after the $200 cash back from Honda the new one has cost us $1050. Not bad for a brand new 2kva with a 4 year warranty.

I am finally going to bite the bullet and buy a sine wave inverter so shortly the old MSW inverter will be up for sale as well.

We picked up a new printer / scanner today (HP Deskjet F3xx series) for just $59 from Woolworths.

20th June 2007 (Wednesday)

That cursed wind is still blowing and it has been 3 weeks and 3 days since we last managed to get out fishing. That is a record for Cleaverville. The previous bad windy period was a mere 21 days!

We are crossing our fingers that the synoptic charts are correct and we may get a chance to go out on Friday and Saturday. The freezer looks very pathetic at the moment (fish-wise) as we only have 1 meal of snapper left.

On the ‘buying things’ front we have just ordered a sine wave inverter (at LOOOONG last) which is a 700w model for $710. Hopefully that will stop me having to start the generator every time I want to run the computer.

25th June 2007 (Monday)

4 weeks and counting and the wind is still blowing……

2nd July 2007 (Monday) (Fishing 29th April, 30th April 1st July)

29th Full moon -1 3:52 3.09 / 9:44 3.92

30th Full moon 4:31 1.92 / 10:24 4.08

1st Full moon +1 5:07 1.77 / 11:02 4.23

2nd Full moon +2 5:43 1.64 / 11:40 4.34

Well the last 4 days, if not exactly perfect fishing weather, at least allowed us to get out and catch a few fish. Being right over the period of the full moon the fish weren’t too cooperative but we did bring in about 6 good sized snapper, a couple of flag and a 53cm cod. Not great but not too bad.

The only sour note was picking up a very nasty dose of the flu last time we went to town.

Belle had a bad allergic reaction to something (we think it was some blue cheese) and came out in a rash that gradually spread almost all over her body. After about 5 days it went away but we are still not sure what triggered it. (Turns out it was the mould in the cheese – penicillin).

3rd July 2007 (Tuesday)

Full moon +3 6:18 1.55 / 12:17 4.4

One last good day for fishing before the winds come back and this one was the best of all 5 days. We seem to have found a spot where there are more large fish than small ones and even though things can go quiet at times, if you do get a bite then it is usually from a fish that is worth catching. This time (for the first time ever) we actually took our limit of 8 snapper. This was mostly because the fishing weather has been so poor this year that we had virtually no fish in the freezer, now we have about 10 meals put away.

One good thing over the last week was the arrival of our new 700w pure sine wave inverter. This is the first diary entry made without having to turn the generator on so in the long run we should save money as we only need to run the generator at night now.

July 13th 2007 (Friday)

For some reason this year we have had on going problems with our shower pumps so we finally decided to give up on submersible pumps and get a self priming in-line Shur Flo ($175). This has been temporarily fixed under the rear of the caravan and means less fiddling around when we want to take a shower.

The weather has turned grey and dull today and the generator will have to be on most of the time to keep the batteries charged.

It has blown for 10 days straight since the last fishing day so life has been rather unexciting.

We are getting very close to fulfilling all my wish lists at the moment with only a wind generator (Rutland 913) and a Digital video camera left to get.

The sine wave inverter has proven to be a real boon, why I waited for so long to get one I don’t know. The old inverter hasn’t sold yet but I hope it will do so before we head south again.

July 19th 2007 (Thursday)

No surprise but the wind is still 20-30 knots every day but everyone is crossing their fingers that it might start to settle down by Saturday and then if it does we may get 1-2 days fishing before it comes back again.

July 21st 2007 (Saturday)

Half moon -1 8:48 1.5 / 14:41 3.78

We watch the weather each day and carefully study the synoptic charts in the hope of seeing some good fishing weather on the horizon. The trouble is that when we see some likely weather it is usually 5 days away and by the time the five days have gone everything has changed.

Last Tuesday, today (Saturday) was looking like a good day but come this morning the wind began to build. We were so frustrated about the lack of good fishing weather that we decided to go out anyway – that was a mistake – and in the end we only brought two small trevally in which we gave to our neighbours. We aren’t holding our breath about tomorrow either but Monday will be the last possible day to fish before the tides go out of whack so we are hoping like crazy that we will get some good weather.

Note: Took the HP printer back to Woolworths on Wednesday and got our money back because it wouldn’t work properly with Vista (What will I wonder?) and it couldn’t feed pages properly.

July 24th 2007 (Tuesday) (fishing 22nd & 23rd)

22nd Half moon 9:23 1.65 / 15:15 3.5

23rd Half moon +1 10:04 1.82 / 15:55 3.22

We managed to get out fishing again over the past two days. Sunday was rather bumpy again as the wind came in but we did catch a few nice fish. Yesterday the wether was perfect but the fish weren’t overly co-operative. We did catch a big gold spotted trevally, a sweetlip and a few flag and snapper but nothing really spectacular.

We went out early yesterday and fished the low tide all the way through and by the time we got back in I was totally knackered. My back won’t stand up to that sort of thing any more and I won’t be attempting to do it again any time soon.

August 5th 2007 (Sunday)

Time is quickly running out on our time up north and still the winds are doing their best to keep us off the water. We have had a total of 15 days fishing on the reefs this year and two of those were so bad we shouldn’t have been out on the water.

There has been a drilling rig near the campground taking core samples. They won’t let on what they’re looking for but everyone hopes they don’t find anything or that will be the end of camping here.

August 8th 2007 (Wednesday)

Ordered wind generator from Outback Marine (circa $1600).

August 10th 2007 (Friday)

Dark of moon -3 1:37 2.44 / 8:12 3.46

Managed to go fishing very early this morning and caught 4 snapper, 1 flag and 1 spotted mack. (more properly called Queensland school mackerel.)

August 11th 2007 (Saturday)

Dark of moon -2 3:38 2.15 / 9:33 3.73

Fishing again but although the water was nice and clear the southerly wind was blowing and fishing sucked! The worst day so far this year.

August 12th 2007 (Sunday)

Dark of moon -1 4:29 1.78 / 10:27 4.03

A perfect fishing day weather wise but we went to Walcott Island and although we had hoped to catch bream we came back with garfish – 80 of them – for use as bait. In the end a lovely day on the water and now we have plenty of bait to fish the outer reefs with. Belle caught a coral trout but as it was only 37cm we had to let it go again <curses!>

The weather remains reasonably cool despite the lack of wind but how long it will continue remains to be seen. We are paying rent weekly now so it is only a matter of time before we start packing up. 18 days fishing out on the reefs so far this year but only 15 of them were really good enough weather wise, the other three were so rough we would have been better off not going out.) Today is the first time we have been out on the water with no wind at all until we decided to come back in.

August 13th 2007 (Monday)

Dark of moon 5:08 1.45 / 11:07 4.27

Out fishing again and again the wind stayed down until the afternoon. Fishing wasn’t quite so good with only 2 snapper, 1 flag and 1 mackerel caught.

I never thought I’d say this but I am getting tired of catching snapper, a big chinaman or a big coral trout would make a nice change.

August 19th 2007 (Sunday)

We are still at Cleaverville as the weather is staying quite cool. The wind is up – nothing new there – so we haven’t been out fishing again but the dinghy is still on the trailer in the hope that we may get out again before we leave.

A lot of people are packing up and heading south now so the campsite isn’t as crowded.

The wind generator has arrived but we haven’t been able to set it up because we can’t find a suitable mounting pole, it looks as though we will have to order a mounting kit from the original supplier.

I have been trying to work out what conditions are best for fishing but on reviewing the statistics I have kept for the past few years, there seems to be no correlation between tide heights or phases of the moon and good fishing days. The only thing that the best fishing days seem to have in common is that the high tide was in the morning not the afternoon.

Over the three years I have kept reasonably detailed records at Cleaverville we have been camped here for a total of 321 days, of those we have been fishing on the front reefs a total of 50 days. 13 days were good, 20 were average and 17 were poor.

A combination of bad wind and difficult tides have meant 271 days waiting to get out fishing. Just as well the weather is better than Perth up here during the winter!

Items bought up here this year:

Computer $698, printer $159, new satellite system $344, sine wave inverter $710, wind generator $1600, Honda 2kva generator $1050 (after selling old one), new water pump $175.50, box fan $32, shower kit $40, gazebo $50 – well over 5K! Karratha is always expensive for us when we come up here.

August 23rd 2007 (Thursday)

We are all but packed up now and will be heading for Carnarvon in the next few days. The weather has gradually been heating up and although it is still quite pleasant here at the moment we have decided to go before the heat turns up.

Sadly the wind has continued it onslaught and we haven’t been out fishing again. We are toying with the idea of buying a set net to do some mullet fishing when we get to Bush Bay but whether we decide to take the boat off remains to be seen.

August 26th 2007 (Sunday)

Left Cleaverville just about the right time as the weather seems to be getting quite warm now. Stopped the night at Lyndon River East. The only problem was a slow puncture in the left rear tyre on the car that I had to change.

August 27th 2007 (Monday)

Arrived at Bush Bay which already has quite a few campers scattered around. The wild flowers are back this year, not as good as they can be but much better than last year so the trip down has been a bit more interesting.

August 28th 2007 (Tuesday)

Settling in and unpacking today and hopefully we will get into Carnarvon tomorrow as our water is starting to run out. Despite misgivings about getting the boat off here we did take it down and put it on the trailer just in case.

August 30th 2007 (Thursday)

I had forgotten how awful the wind can be at Bush Bay and last night we had a real reminder of how nasty it gets. A storm rolled in around 9pm and we spent a rather uncomfortable and sleepless night as the caravan was buffeted rather violently by the wind.

Yesterday we bought a set net ($170) for catching mullet and we put it out for the first time this afternoon. The result was one solitary fish but it was a good size so we kept it in case we get another one or two tomorrow to make a meal.

August 31st (2007) Friday

Put the net out again today and caught 5 big mullet, much better than we expected but it will take a long time before the net pays for itself.

September 1st 2007 (Saturday)

We tried putting the net out at night but it was a waste of time. We only managed to catch one mullet and a whole lot of seaweed.

The wind seems to have dropped off for a while and we managed to get out in the boat today. We didn’t catch anything worth keeping but were surprised to find blue lined emperor and blue tusk fish here. Normally we would not expect to catch them this far south.

September 2nd 2007 (Sunday)

Out in the boat again and this time we caught a couple of reasonable sized tailor. We don’t think much of them ourselves but our neighbours (Don & Wendy) like them so we brought them in so they could have a feed. As they don’t have a boat they have only been managing to catch small whiting from the shore.

September 3rd 2007 (Monday)

Went into town but got back early enough to get the boat on the water again. The wind is gradually making a come back so this might be the last outing for a while. Unfortunately we didn’t catch anything worth keeping today but at least we did get out again.

September 4th 2007 (Tuesday)

Went wading in the shallows as the tide went out, looking for crabs and caught 5. One was the largest we have caught to date at 165mm across.

September 6th 2007 (Thursday)

Crabbing again today and caught 5 more (Belle is very happy about this). We beat the old record of 165mm by 1mm today and three of the crabs were over 150mm. We have to walk a very long way to find them and they don’t pop out of the sand but at least it is a walk with a purpose.

September 11th 2007 (Tuesday)

Went into town yesterday and picked up a DV camera (at LAST!) and I am now trying to get to grips with how it works. These things have got very complicated since the old analogue video cameras!

Today we got out fishing in the boat again and caught a legal sized blue lined emperor as well as a few snook – what they are like to eat we are soon going to find out as I filleted the lot.

September 12th 2007 (Wednesday)

Put the net out today and caught 4 mullet.

September 15th 2007 (Saturday)

Managed to get out in the boat again today and caught 3 tailor which we gave to our neighbours. We did catch a few blue lined emperor as well but all were just undersized – very frustrating. I still haven’t managed to get out into deeper water as the wind is not dropping off enough to go out more than a kilometre or two.

The DV camera is proving to be a bit of a let down. First the software doesn’t seem happy working with MS Vista (then what does?!) and second the video quality certainly isn’t what I expected, in fact it isn’t as good as the old analogue cameras.

September 16th 2007 (Sunday)

Put the net out again and caught 1 mullet and 2 bream.

September 17th 2007 (Monday)

Went out looking for crabs in the morning and caught 7 big ones. The largest was 172mm a new record for us. The afternoon was still quiet so we took the boat out to the channel and caught 2 tailor and 5 size blue lined emperor. A good day.

September 18th 2007 (Tuesday)

Took the boat out to the channel again but this time looking for whiting. This time we weren’t so lucky but it was nice just sitting out on the water.

September 21st 2007 (Friday)

We finally got the last bits and pieces for the wind generator stand yesterday and I set to work making the stand this morning. This involved drilling a few holes in the 48mm pipe and fitting 4 eye bolts, plus a hole in the base to let the cable through and two in the top of the pole for the wind gen bolts. Doesn’t sound like much work but with a battery powered drill it took ages as it was a case of drill 3 holes and wait while the battery re-charges. (I don’t think much of battery powered drills and will get the normal 240v drill when we go back to the bus again.)

Putting the wind gen up was easier than expected and it has been happily powering along in the ‘gale force’ Bush Bay winds ever since. Last night was the first time ever that we did not use the generator while free camping and the batteries didn’t get any lower than 12.2 volts. This morning they were up to 13.7!

The items we needed to get for the wind gen were:

2.7 m Pole and base (section of round pipe welded to a square base) $80

4 x 4 metre 5mm wire cable $24.00

16 x 5mm cable clamps $20.80

8 x 5mm U bolts $11.60

4 x 8mm cable strainers (turn buckles) $22.60

4 x star pickets $14.00

4 x Eye bolts $4.90

4 x large tent pegs $7.80

12.5 metres of dual core electrical wire $45.00

Total of $240.70 added to the $1582.50 for the wind gen & regulator makes a total of $1823.10. For every week we are able to run without using the generator we save $30 in petrol so it would take just over 60 weeks for this set up to pay for itself – not bad really.

According to the ‘blurb’, the Rutland 913 can deliver up to 250 watts of power (about the equivalent of 2 x 120 watt solar panels, but the good thing it that it delivers it when the wind blows (which is most of the time on the West Coast) not just for a few hours when the sun shines.

(Note: This turned out to be a practical maximum of 9 amps or 108 watts and an average to date of around 3 amps an hour or 72 amp hours a day.)

The Rutland is by far the quietest wind generator we have ever heard so the research done on the internet wasn’t wasted. It does mean carrying yet more gear but we want to become completely self-sufficient in power and not use the petrol generator any more than we have to.

New wish list:

1.Get roll out awning replaced (done)

2.Replace cooker with full 4 burner, grill and oven (done)

3.Put a good security door on (done)

4.Sort out water pump system so that water can be pumped from the tank or external source. (done)

September 25th 2007 (Tuesday)

A very stormy night was followed by a quiet morning so we decided to take the boat out. We should have known better. As soon as we got out there the wind came up but we persisted and kept fishing right up to high tide. Again we should have known better. The catch for the day was 1 sand bass and we let that go.

September 27th 2007 (Thursday)

Went out to have a look at Rocky Pool yesterday, the last time we were there was in August 1997 during our first major test trip with the bus. Ten years seem to have just flown by, it’s hard to know where the time has gone.

Got all the bits and pieces to complete the water pump system for the caravan yesterday and got the job done today. We can now pump water directly from the internal tanks or from an external source to the shower via the Shurflo pump which has been mounted under the van. A simple on/off switch inside lets us turn the pump off when not needed but it can be left turned on and used in an on-demand way while we are camped.

The wind generator has made a lot of difference to our way of life as we now have 24 hour power and hardly ever use the Honda Generator any more. We still need it to run the microwave but in the past week it has been used for less than 2 hours. This will greatly save on wear and tear as well as maintenance costs for spark plugs and oil.

After keeping an eye on the power coming in from the wind gen it seems as though we get anywhere between 2 and 6 amps most of the time. If it averages out to around 3 amps and hour then that will be an extra 72 amp hours power a day giving a total of between 150-170 amp hours a day. That should be plenty. Because the wind gen works all day as opposed to the 6 hours we get from the solar panels, it doesn’t need to put in more than 3 amps in order to be useful. In effect the wind gen is equivalent to 223 watts of solar panels.

We put the net out again today but caught nothing.

September 28th 2007 (Friday)

Left the net out again last night and when I checked before first light we found just 1 bream that was very much alive so we let it go again.

October 5th 2007 (Friday)

We put the net out again over night and this time we caught a variety of fish that included mullet, bream, flathead, mulloway and a shark. After we brought the net in we went looking for crabs and managed to come back with 7. All in all not a bad day.

We expect to only be here for another 10 days or so before heading down to Kalbarri and Geraldton. The weather has started to warm up over the past two days but is still reasonably comfortable. The wind today is almost non-existent but the tides are wrong so we weren’t able to get out in the boat.

Species of fish caught at Bush Bay are:

Yellow fin whiting, Tailor, Yellow fin Bream, Blue lined emperor, Butterfish, Western Whiptails (or something very like them), Garfish, Blue tusk fish, Unidentified tusk fish, Sand bass, Trumpeter, Shark, Mulloway, Flathead, Mullet and an eel. (We also caught one squid and saw several others).

By the time we leave we will have been at Bush Bay for about 7 weeks (saving a minimum of $280 in rent) and will have had the wind gen working for around 3 weeks (saving about $90 in fuel) an approximate saving of around $370.

October 7th 2007 (Sunday)

The wind dropped to nothing this morning so we took the boat out to do some fishing and after a frustrating morning during which we saw some of the biggest mackerel we have ever seen swimming around the boat (the only one to take a bait bit my line off even though I was using a wire trace) we only brought in 5 sand bass – 4 of them caught by Belle.

We have never tried sand bass before and have let them go if we caught any but a couple of people told us they were good eating so this time we decided to try them out and found they tasted ok but the flesh was far too soft.

October 13th 2007 (Saturday)

We are hoping to take the boat out one last time today and are waiting to see if the wind stays down. It was blowing a gale last night (nothing new for Bush Bay) and we thought we didn’t have any chance of getting out but this morning the wind has dropped right down and we are crossing our fingers that it stays that way long enough for us to go fishing. I would really like to find those big mackerel again.

If we don’t manage to get out then the packing up will begin.

As it turned out the wind did drop and we got a last day out in the boat but apart from something big grabbing Belle’s line and then getting off (after she handed the rod to me) we didn’t manage to bring anything back. Belle caught an eel of some sort but we let that go.

We are now getting ready to head further south as the temperature here starts to go up (and the mozzies come out in very large numbers.)

October 15th 2007 (Monday)

We are almost packed up now and expect to head off tomorrow. The next stop should be Hutt River and then hopefully down to Geraldton to get the caravan annexe sorted out.

Bush Bay has been its usual windy self with about half a dozen less windy days over 7 weeks. On two occasions the wind did actually stop completely but this isn’t as good as it sounds as it gives the millions of mosquitoes that live in the area a chance to get out and have a good feed before the wind comes back – and BOY are they HUNGRY.

We have been slightly amused watching the people who come to Bush Bay without knowing what to expect. The wind usually drops a little during the day and the campers with their caper trailers and small single axle caravans arrive, look around and obviously wonder why there are so many lovely beach side sites available.

They set to work putting up their annexes and setting everything out nicely and then the night comes. With darkness comes the wind, howling in from across the bay, buffeting their vans all night and threatening to destroy those carefully placed annexes.

Next morning you can hardly see them leave for the dust flying out from behind their vehicles as they flee with all the speed their vehicles can muster. We have lost count of the number of people we have seen do this in the last 7 weeks and it gets to be a bit of a game to see how long the latest arrivals can survive before tucking their tails between their legs and heading for the highway at top speed – at least until the hit the first of the 10 kilometres of corrugations. Bush Bay can be a cruel campsite for the un-initiated.

Wish list and to do list

1.Slide out shelving for kitchen cupboard. '

2.New cooker for van (done)

3.Security door for van (done)

4.LCD TV and stand (done)

5.Mount good speakers in cupboards (done)

6.Repair awning and annexe (done)

7.Get shade cloth floor and walls made up (floor done walls still to do)

8.Fix step (done)

9.Fix fishing rod (done)

10.New stereo for bedroom (done)

11.Sort out problems with video files (done)

12.Service car (done)

13.Get new shower tent (done) and build a more permanent one for the side of the van. (give up)

14.Fix wing mirror on car (done)

Wind gen stats for future reference:

Set up this period : 23 days

Ran generator due to lack of wind : 3 days

Total days with wind gen power only: 20 days

Average cost per day to run petrol generator

Fuel $4.30

Maintenance $0.50

Wear and tear $0.34

Daily running costs $5.14

20 days at $5.14 = $102.80

October 16th 2007 (Tuesday)

After quite a long (time-wise) tiring drive we arrived at Hutt River Province – none to easy to find due to the lack of signage – and settled in.

The caravan facility is quite basic but it has all the essentials like power (7am-10pm), toilet, shower and washing machine (free). Best of all it is quiet and very cheap ($10 per night on power).

October 17th 2007 (Wednesday)

A mad rush today to get round to see everything I wanted to see north of Hutt River turned out to be a disappointment as it was almost impossible to find the Geraldine mine site and it was impossible to find Lucky Bay which we have now re-named ‘Lucky if you can find it Bay’.

We did see part of the sights at Kalbarri National Park but didn’t get to Nature’s Window and Z Bend and we did have a quick look around Kalbarri town. Sadly it is no longer the quiet little backwater it once was and new housing developments will ruin the area.

October 18th 2007 (Thursday)

Today was much more fruitful as we went to Northampton and then to the old Lynton convict depot and to Port Gregory. A much more interesting day than yesterday and much less stressful as we didn’t get lost this time.

22nd October 2007 (Monday)

Our last day at Hutt River before heading down to Geraldton to get the caravan awning fixed up. There hasn’t been much to do since last Thursday and we have been going a bit loopy as a result. It will be good to get everything sorted out and get back to doing what we want to again.

26th October 2007

IGA phone call.

29th October 2007 (Monday)

Coming down to Geraldton seems to have been a complete waste of time. The caravan repairers we took the van to last week have not returned any of our phone calls and when we rang the insurance company this morning we find that they haven’t even got round to sending in a quote yet.

As a result we are going to go down to Rockingham and get Gary (who worked on the van last time) to do the work instead. We have to make up our minds what to do for the next couple of weeks as we have to waste time until the work can be done.

30th October 2007 (Tuesday)

We gave up on Geraldton and have gone east to Mullewa for a few days. Unfortunately Mullewa seems to be about the most unfriendly town we have been to in W.A. Maybe everyone in town was just having a bad day today but they mostly seem like a real bunch of grumps. The woman at the Telecentre / Visitor Centre begrudgingly said hello and then proceeded to ignore us completely. Strange how the most unsuitable people end up in some jobs.

The major tourist attraction in town (the Monsignor Hawes designed Catholic church) is only open to visitors between July and mid October and most of the businesses in town seem to have closed down.

We will be here a week, long enough to have a good look around, but I don’t think I would ever bother coming back. The caravan park is one of the best things in town, at least the people at the Ampol service station (where you pay the site fees) were friendly.

The park itself is cheap if you stay weekly ($80) and reasonable if you stay daily ($16) and the toilets and laundry are some of the best we have seen in any caravan park.

November 2nd 2007 (Friday)

The last few days have been a bit of a strain and I can’t pin the blame on anyone but myself. When I was giving the car an oil change I must have put the oil into the engine too quickly and the funnel I was using was too well sealed in the hole. This led to oil being forced down into the cylinders and when I tried to start the engine it refused to turn over. This meant the car had to be taken down to the local garage to have the glow plugs removed and the oil allowed to squirt out. It only cost $58 in the end but it was worrying at the time AND I TEND TO BEAT MYSELF UP MENTALLY WHEN I DO SOMETHING STUPID.

Today we went out to have a look at Tenindewa Well (not a bad campsite) and Noondamurra Pool that is pretty but too small to be of much use as a campsite to most people.

It turned out that we must have met a few real grumps when we first got to Mullewa as the rest of the people we have spoken to have been very friendly. Shows you that first impressions can be quite wrong.

November 5th 2007 (Monday)

Yesterday we had a look at the De Grey Stock Route picnic area that would make quite a good campsite in the right weather. We then went east to Pindar and had a look at the old hotel.

We have now been to most places we wanted to see around Mullewa (except perhaps Tardun) and will be moving on again. We were planning to go to Moora for a week or so but when we rang and found that a shire park is charging $21 a night or $130 a week we changed our minds. Now we have decided to go to Goomalling for a few days and then on to the farm at Popo until we hear that the parts have arrived for the caravan in Rockingham.

November 9th 2007 (Friday)

Finally after around 7 months we are back at the bus. We will be here until the parts from the caravan arrive and then it is off to Rockingham for a couple of days and then down to Augusta again for the summer.

November 19th 2007 (Monday)

Most things have been sorted out with dropping off and picking up items at home base and now we are just waiting (rather impatiently) for the word to take the caravan down to Rockingham for the repairs. If nothing has happened by the 29th we will go part way down and stay at Wandering for a few days just to get a little closer.

We are booked in at Cowaramup from 20th of December for a month to do some house sitting, that will make a nice change and after that we will go back to Westbay for a few weeks to stay away from the heat of summer.

November 26th 2007 (Monday)

We are booked in to get the work done on the caravan next Monday and will be stopping at Wandering for a couple of nights just to get us a bit closer to Rockingham. After that the plan is to go to Heron Point for three nights than on to Leschenault caravan park for two weeks before we house sit in Cowaramup for almost a month. From there we hope to go back to Westbay and sit out the summer in a reasonably cool spot. That is plan ‘A’ anyway.

December 8th 2007 (Saturday)

The new roll out is on and the oven installed in the caravan and we still have the new door to go on and we expect that to get done around Christmas. The Annexe walls are still to be stitched up and we have ordered a ‘privacy screen’ $140 and all that will get sorted out at the same time.

We spent 3 nice quiet nights at Heron Point although the weather wasn’t that great (coldest minimum temperature ever recorded for December apparently) it was still enjoyable.

We are staying at the Leschenault caravan park in Australind for the next week or two and I will spend some time looking around the Bunbury area. I still don’t like Bunbury, it is over populated and ugly. I just can’t find anything nice to say about it. The streets are congested with traffic and it is almost impossible to find parking in the middle of town.

December 15th 2007 (Saturday)

Managed to do a trip round to Brunswick, Harvey, Yarloop, Myalup and Binnigup today. The highlights of the trip were Stirling’s Cottage and the weir at Harvey and the Yarloop Workshop museum. The museum houses the largest collection of working steam engines in the southern hemisphere. Live steam days are held on the second Sunday of each month from March to November.

December 20th 2007 (Thursday)

Christmas (YUK!) is almost on us again, what a bore…. At least by this time next week it will all be over again for another year.

We are upholding our tradition of the last 10 years and staying in a different place from all the previous 9 Christmases. This one will be in Cowaramup and as it is one of the nicest areas in the state we hope it will be one of the most enjoyable of the past 10 years.

Tomorrow we head down to the house we will be looking after and meet the owners.