We were having a relaxing morning in the Jarrahdene Forest when up rocked a car and caravan to claim our spot. I didn’t realise that we had to be out by 10.00 a.m. and it was our bad luck that in a nearly empty camping area they had booked our spot. After asking us to ‘prove’ that we were legitimate the woman got on the phone to parkstays and to try to get another site and said there was a chance of a fistfight with us over the spot. Not surprisingly we saw a ranger come in a bit later. I hope this won’t result in us being banned from staying in National Parks.
We moved, of course. There was nowhere to actually park and Stephen’s idea of having a half hour walk before we left was shelved. We were at the dump station when I saw a ranger drive in. We had chosen Jarrahdene partly because of the dump point, but it is not far from Contos and we wished we had stayed there for our second night.
We stopped at Witchcliff to refuel and Stephen found that there was a little forest walk nearby. He went for a walk and I went to a cafe. Everyone happy again!
We decided to aim for Capel to stay the night. There is a dump station with potable water also available. Plus there are three RV parking spaces where we can stay the night. We weren’t sure of getting one of the three, but I located an alternative – about 18 kms away, but it sounds pretty nice with a waterfall. However, when we arrived we felt that perhaps we had travelled far enough. After filling up with water we were able to claim the second spot and another RV has since claimed the third. A full house. We are a little out of town. RVs have to be fully self contained to stay here and we have a 24 hour stay, so no pressure in the morning.
It is cloudy, a bit smoky and very windy here, not the sort of evening that we want to be outside. Fortunately we have an indoor kitchen, unlike our neighbours in the next bay. We are not sure that they qualify as fully self contained, but surely even a portable cassette toilet is enough. There is now a tent – they must be planning to get away early in the morning before the ranger comes.
On our way here we stopped for lunch on Sue’s Road – actually on a side road (George Road). Stephen found an orchid almost immediately, and we found lots of other wildflowers too. So, as well as enjoying lunch, we walked around taking photos. The flowers had a shyness about them, it was only by walking around with our eyes on the ground that we realised what a rich diversity of flowers were within a short distance.
