Gnomesville

We visited Gnomesville, a little place about 30km out of Bunbury, which is really a community of little gnomes. It is estimated there are over 3000 gnomes on the side of the road that have been left there by locals and those travelling by. It all started with one gnome at a dangerous intersection that lead to more and more gnomes appearing. The intersection was turned into a round about and there soon became too many gnomes so they were moved to a picnic area close by and has continued to grow by the week. It was amazing to see the number of gnomes that have been left and just how they just keep going.

A group of little gnomes

Me at Gnomesville

They just keep going

Margaret River and Busselton

We stayed a total of 3 nights in Margaret River. There is a lot to see in this area.
The first day here we traveled up to Busselton where the jetty is 2km long, we took the train out to the end and back, its takes around 15-20mins each way and we all had abit of fun. From Busselton we started heading back down the coast and stopped in at Bunker Bay and the lighthouse where we did a 2km walk around the point of the lighthouse. We than went into Canal Rocks abit further down the coast, the ocean was getting quite rough so the waves were smashing up in against the canal, we found a spot to sit and stayed to watch the waves for awhile, it was very relaxing.
The second day we spent going around the wineries and boutiques, we went to the fudge factory, cheese company and the chocolate factory (a huge shop with ALOT of chocolate), we also visited alittle mudbrick chapel filled with artworks, the lady there was very sweet and could of talked to us all day, Trev fixed her computer so she was extremely happy and gave us some of her artwork cards as a thankyou. Her artworks are very good and she has illustrated many books.
We finished the day by driving out to Pravelly beach to watch the sun set over the ocean, it was very windy, as is had been all day with 52km wind gusts.

Busselton Jetty

Train that took us on on the Jetty

Canal Rocks

Relaxing watching the waves come into the canal

Us at the mud brick chapel

Sun setting over the ocean

Lighthouse and Caves

Hi All,
Sorry we haven't updated. We have stayed out on a sheep station caravan park near Margret River and haven't had internet access.

Augusta and Caves

We traveled to Cape Leeuwin Light house. Yvette climbed up the light house as she never done it before. Cape Leeuwin is where the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet.

We drove up a bit further where we took a guided tour of Lake Cave. This cave we choose because we saw some pictures of it unique 2 column suspended above the lake in the cave. 

We then made camp at Big valley Caravan park on a real sheep station 10k's out of Margret River.

Me at Cape Leeuwin Light House.

We are Oceans apart!

Resting at the entrance to the caves (quite a few stairs)

The Lake Cave. 

Resting on the way back up. 300+ steep stairs.

Albany to Pemberton

My turn for a post. might not read as well as Melissa's so lets see how I go.
Tuesday we left Hyden and headed for Albany.  The back roads have all just been tar'd and quite smooth.  We got quite a bit of locus on the road. Lucky we bought some fly screen to put on the front of the car day before.
We drove right through the stirling ranges. They where massive mountains in middle of the flat plains.
We settled into the Big4 in Albany and they even put on a roast pork night at the camp kitchen. Saves us cooking for the night :)
On Wednesday we looked around Albany. It is quite a granite coast line. We stopped at the Natural Bridge rock and the blow holes along the coast. The blow holes wasn't working as not much swell, one did blow air from the swell which took Melissa by surprise when she first walked up to it. (one thing I like about WA they don't fence anything off, they just have signs saying "your safety is your responsibility")
They have a replica of the sailing ship Amity in Albany. We where able to explore all 3 decks. It amased us at the small size of the ship and how it used to carry 60 men. We recommend taking a look at the ship.
We also took in a few lookouts around the town.
Thursday we headed out of Albany and onto Denmark where we stopped for some morning tea and chat about the Easter break and where we be staying.
From Denmark we headed to the Valley of the Giants tree walk and other giant tree viewing areas.
We are now in Pemberton caravan park. (advise if you come here don't follow the GPS and just drive up the main street till you see the caravan park sign)
Until next blog hope you enjoy the read and photo's.

 Salt Lakes

 Stirling Ranges

 Dog Rock in the middle of Albany

 Natural Bridge (see me on it?)

 The Amity

 In side the Amity

 View of Albany and the harbour

 Well I finally made it to Denmark...

 Valley of the Giants tree top walk. 40 Meters high.

 Us at the giant tree's

Jock at Valley of the Giants. 

Esperance & Wave Rock - Hyden

We spent Sunday sight seeing Esperance, we started off taking the Great Ocean Drive scenic drive. Went to the Pink Lake, although not so pink this particular day as it was very overcast, the pink colour is caused from the salt and algae in the water. The coast line of Esperance is beautiful, the beaches have the clearest water and the sand is so white, we spent quite alot of time walking some of the beaches and stopping at lookouts to take photos. There is a wind farm built just above Nine Mile beach, you can walk right up to the turbines. We also visited Stonehenge, a replica of the Stonehenge in the UK. It is built on a farm just out of Esperance and the sheer size and workmanship of this structure is amazing. We spent the rest of the afternoon along the esplanade and walking along the jetty. The resident sea lion was at the start of the jetty having a snoooze on the sand when we got back, he is quite big and looks like he is very well feed.

 Coast line in Esperance

 Nine Mile Beach



 Stonehenge

 Trev and I inside Stonehenge

Inside Stonehenge

Sea lion at the end of the jetty waiting for fish

Yesterday we travelled to Wave Rock, Hyden, it was quite a warm day and we came across alot of locusts. We staying at the caravan park right at the rock, only a 200mt walk to get there. We walked along the base and climbed to the top. The rock is a huge peice of granite that actually takes up quite abit of land. There were heaps of little gecko type lizards running all over it. We also went and had alook at Hippos Yawn, another part of the same rock. We finished the day with another walk up to Wave Rock to watch the sun go down.

 Surfing at Wave Rock

Looking down from the top 

Wave Rock





Broken Hill to Esperance

Its been quite a number of days since we have had internet and mobile phone coverage and we are now at Esperance in WA. Since the last post we have stopped in Port Augusta, the temperture was very warm and we spent the afternoon looking at the jetty and the bay and going for a swim to cool off. We crossed the SA boarder and the Flinders Rangers, the view of the Flinders was great, the landscape was quite green and the hills looked amazing.

The Flinders Rangers

We spent the night at Haslam, a small ttowm about 45km up from Streaky Bay, we had quite strong winds most of the day, so the bay didn't look all that good. All caravan parks and most of the free camping were full but we finally found some stops at Haslam, a camp area close to the jetty. Mums brother also stopped in for the night as he was heading back home, so it was nice to catch up with him. It was quite cold that night and the extra blanket was definately needed.

Jetty at Haslam.

We started the Nullarbor Plains. It has taken us 2.5 days to cross from start to finish, the first 2 days was quite windy. The start and for most of the way along it has almost no trees at all just alot of scrub, but the last few hundred km's has alot of trees. We stopped in and had a look at the start of the Great Australian Bight, it was a great view and the wind wasn't even too bad. We stopped at most of the lookouts along the way, the cliffs and the colours in them looked amazing, and you drive quite close to them along some parts. We spent 2 nights on the Nullarbor, one at a truck stop off the road about 50 km from Boarder Village and the other at a roadhouse caravan park at Balladonia.

Start of the Nullarbor

Us at the Great Australian Bight

Some of the signs you see

We crossed the WA boarder and were searched at quaritine for fruit and veg, they took a few things we had as well as our honey.

Some of the slower nomads we have to pass. They only sit on about 80klm/h

Cliffs along the Nullarbor

View of the Nullarbor Plains on the WA side

Camp site at Balladonia

We are at Esperance tonight, we got here around 2pm and have spent the afternoon relaxing and getting some washing done. We are all still trying to get used to the 3hr time differance and are looking forward to stopping here tomorrow and having a look around.

    Under the sign at Cobar

 Morning tea at a rest stop outside of Wilcannia

 Mad Max Museum at Silverton

Living Desert Sculptures at Broken Hill