Principality of Hutt River & Kalbarri

23rd till 28th March 13

On our way to Kalbarri, we had a day at the Principality of Hutt River. We were surprised that there was a Principality in Australia which has it's government office, post office and church and much more!  We were welcomed by Prince Leonard who showed us around and gave us an insight to his Principality and also gave us the legal entry - a visa stamped into our passports! And he offered us to sit in the Prince and Princess seats, see below.

Arriving in Kalbarri the next day, we enjoyed our treat - our own little apartment for 4 days. We watched a beautiful sunset the first night. The following day we drove to Kalbarri National Park to see Nature's Window, Z Loop and a nice gorge from Murchison River. As it was a very hot day, we went to lots of sightseeing points, but decided against walking in the gorge where the sun was burning down and there was no breeze.
We went Quad riding along Murchison River from the Murchison House Station towards Kalbarri. As it had rained the day before, we were quite lucky that it was less dusty than it usually would be. It was lots of fun riding on a track that included some sand and mud as well as stone plates and we enjoyed the stops along the river as well as on some hills.
On our return trip to Geraldton, we stopped in Port Gregory to see the Pink Lake - it gets its colour from an algae that grows there.

Principality of Hutt River

Kalbarri

Sandy Cape, Lesueur NP, Greenough, Port Denison & Geraldton

18th - 23rd March 2013

Leaving the sea lions behind us, we drove to Lesueur NP to see some wildflowers and gorges. Nice drive and scenery. Heading further north, we quickly stopped to check out the camping at Sandy Cape Recreational Park, which was so nice we stayed a couple of nights. The park is basic, but directly behind the dunes and a bit sheltered from the prevailing southerly wind. Clear turquoise water, white sandy beaches and dunes, plus the normal chilled groove on a place like this. Whilst packing up, we found a small scorpion holding on to one of the bags. Wildlife caretaker Silvan handled the reptile to safety without getting stung!
Further north we stopped at a place called Greenough, which is only famous for permanent wind and a old homestead. Nice enough to stop, specially at the world famous Blown Over Tree. This area has such permanent winds from the southern direction, that some free standing trees get bend over from the day they come out of the soil and grow like this, quite cool looking.

Once in Geralton, we drove up to the Lighthouse, had a look around the port before catching up with our friends Rob & Kat. They just moved to Geraldton, so good planning. We spent a few day with them before heading further north for Kalbarri. On the way we stopped at Oakabella Homestead, which is believed to be the 5th most haunted house in Australia. Didn't see any ghosts though...

 Lesueur National Park

Sandy Cape Recrational Park

Greenough

Geraldton

Oakabella Homestead

Swan Valley, Toodyay, Lancelin & Jurien Bay Area - WA

10th  - 18th March 2013

Finally we left Perth and the south behind us and started our slow journey north. Went East first though, as we stopped at the Swan Valley for a nice German Sausage lunch with German beer at Elmar's. After a filling lunch, we visited the chocolate factory and honey store. As the caravan parks are not so nice in the Swan Valley and we desperately needed a shower, we decided to head towards Toodyay which was surprisingly nice. The bush camping beats many we have seen and even has its own peacock named Hendry.
We planned to stay in the Avon National Park the next days. The park is simple and only has a few lookout, nice picnic areas, but the camping areas are not worth mentioning, so we left and drove in direction of the coast again.
Staying near Gingin, we checked out the coastal town and its beaches, before staying overnight at the "Back to Nature" caravan park, which is very nice, new and still very "bush". From there we drove to Guilderton, Ledge Point and Lancelin. Not wind against all odds, but plenty of rain.
The Pinnacles were next on the agenda and we were lucky to be able to see them with storm weather and after lunch in blue sky. Very special place indeed.

Jurien Bay then accommodated us for a few days. We found out that something was eating our stored food away, everything had holes, so we assumed it was a mouse and therefore bought a mouse trap. After dodging the first night and stealing the bread out of the trap,we got her the second night and released her into the wild again. We had nice swims, chilled out at the park and the highlight: swimming with sealions! This was just awesome, playing in the water with them whilst snorkeling, just a must do if you like this kind of stuff. Additionally, we were followed by dolphins on the way out to sea.

Wellington NP & Lane Poole CP - WA

4th - 10th March 2013

Heading north from Margaret River, we drove over Donnybrook which is famous for apples, and enjoyed buying some fruit at one of the farms. We got surprised when we drove past "Gnomes-ville" - a little "village" at the side of the road towards a forest with millions of gnomes (and so surprised we completely forgot to take a picture)! 

In Wellington National Park we stayed at the stunning Honeymoon Pools. We enjoyed a swim in the pools as well as the wildlife, including many cheeky kookaburra's, a colored lizard, a black lizard and a strange caterpillar - it seems to have glued hundred little twigs to its body!

Then we headed to Lane Poole Conservation Park. The camping where we stayed at had lots of pines, it smelt like a European forest and also had a cold creek running through where we could cool off a bit.

Margaret River Coast - WA

25th February - 3rd March 2013

Back again in Margaret River we went to see our Windsurfing friends again. We enjoyed a nice week in the area with day trips to Dunsborough, Yalingup, Hamelin Bay and other small beaches. We went to see the pros windsurfing at the main break.
If the wind died off a bit we took the SUP and went up the river for a paddle.
We enjoyed an Italian Pizza night as well as a real Swiss Cheese Fondue, yum!