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After Nerren Nerren Rest Area our next stopover was in Geraldton. We arrived by lunchtime and went straight to the John Batten Hall where we have previously stayed overnight. At about 3.30 p.m. we drove into the centre of Geraldton for Stephen’s GP appointment. The Dr didn’t find anything wrong, but gave him an antibiotic eye drop script, just in case. We thought we might stay at the short stay area at Town Beach, but it was fully occupied.

We also, indepenently, looked for options for an evening meal. Stephen found a Chinese restaurant and I found a Turkish. The Turkish didn’t really cater for sit down meals so we walked to the Chinese. They didn’t really cater for sit down meals either. We ordered a meal with noodles, and it was mostly noodles, as you can imagine. We decided that the standard of higiene wasn’t that good and we just might end up sick. As a cleansing measure we walked to the Italian restaurant for a takeaway gelato, which we enjoyed on the foreshore. Afterwards we headed back to the John Batten Hall, about 14 kms north, and found there were still three bays available.

In the morning we noticed the rangers talking with the owners of a large motorhome which fortunately parked away from our area as it was so large. Although our overnight place is for vans without facilities, they did not question us. Clearly, we are in a campervan, though it has a small bathroom, which isn’t immediately obvious.

Yesterday morning we drove to the nearby Puma service station to fill up, then headed towards Mingenew by backroads that meant we didn’t have to travel on the terribly busy highway. Just as we were getting close to Mingenew I pulled into a car park to let a car go by on the narrow, winding road. It turned out to be a good move. We stayed for afternoon tea, then a walk to look at wildflowers. The place is called Depot Hill Walk and Parking. There were a few orchids which had been highlighted with ribbons and an arrow on the ground. I even found a couple of orchids after noticing a tissue on the ground, although I don’t think that was intentional.

Our overnight spot was an Enanty barn, which apparently has historical significance, and once we were there it was clear we had been there before in the Winnie. We had a quiet overnight with a very chilly morning.

We checked out the bakery in Mingenew the next day, but it was a bit early for our morning tea and also very crowded. We bought some rolls and moved on. I did a little bit of shopping at the local IGA.

We picked our next spot based on free camping with hookups at the Watheroo Tavern. By this time we are on the Midlands Road. Wikicamps reviews were very favourable and we looked forward to having a hot meal, which is the price of staying there. They offer toilets and hot showers as well. But, when we got there it was closed. It’s a good thing we don’t absolutely count on things because we would have otherwise been very disappointed. As it was, we were able to shrug it off and decided to head for Moora. Here we are in the free overnight camping area. We looked at the caravan park (so we could have hookups and run the heater, and Stephen could have a shower), but it was completely full.

During most of the journey from Na\erren Nerren Rest Area we have enjoyed seeing lots and lots of wildflowers. Stephen has been using the GoPro as we drive along and that, more than the photos I’ve taken, show just how lovely it has been.

Today we had a good spot for our lunch break overlooking a lake just out of Carnamah. It took us a little while to find it as we missed the turning, something we are very good at!

At this stage we are thinking of having one more night on the road before heading home, perhaps at the Wannamal Rest Area fairly close to where Mum used to live.