But before that we left our camping place after filling up with fresh water. We dumped our toilet cassette for $5 at Turners Caravan Park and met up with Marie and Geoff at Colourpatch. Not only has it been upgraded to a restaurant and bar, but the prices are normal restaurant prices. We shared a main course and desert, but separate hot drinks. The serving sizes were a bit mingy for sharing though we each had a side dish to share.

What was great was catching up with Marie and Geoff, which we hadn’t expected to do this trip. The setting is stunning and Geoff was able to point of dolphins and a sting ray, which we wouldn’t have seen but for his far sightedness.

When we eventually parted, they returned to Busselton and we set out for Conto campground. We have stayed there before and as with all our national park cam-grounds it is well set up with good sized sites, each with a fire pit and picnic tables. There is a campers kitchen with non drinking water and gas bbqs and clean, well maintained long drop toilets.

But, on a warm and humid evening the sheltered location was very unpleasant. In the evening we had a plague of mozzies, which meant having to use the insect screens, which made us even more uncomfortable. I took Marie’s advice and set up our little battery fan on the kitchen bench and it really helped with moving air around.

In the morning it was quite cool and the mozzies had departed. We took a walk along a nearby park and were able to get a great view of the sea. It is the wrong time,of year for walking, but we could walk to the sea if we had an hour or two.

We drove long Caves Road to the Margaret River Chocolate Factory where we had morning tea. The cafe wasn’t quite as nice as we had hoped, but being able to view chocolates being made was good. We had a rather nice slice with lots of nuts. I bought some chocolate for us and some mousse mix for Matt.

Meelup Beach was our next destination, for lunch, a rest and a swim. We had a cup of tea afterwards. The van is on a sideways slope, but we have a lovely view, especially later when the sun was out fully.

In Augusta yesterday morning we called in at the bakery hoping to be able to buy some interesting bread. This is the picture in the window.

Basically, none of that is sold and they only make rye bread on Tuesdays, or something. We got a small loaf of whole meal bread, nothing special.

Whilst having our cup of tea we rang the RAC caravan park and Amblin CP to check on prices. For the two nights Amblin is $13 cheaper, plus is on the ocean side of the road and has a heated, enclosed swimming pool. When we gave them our name our details were in their system. We have never stayed there in the Winnie, but stayed there often in tents and smaller RVs. The sites are quite tight, good for our little van.

I want power tonight in order to be able to cook outside using the induction hot plate and my big pan. We’ll also get to experience being in this van with 240v power, so far we have always relied completely on 12v. I wonder how it will work out.

Something has broken, the handle for closing off the grey water tank. We should be able to get it fixed under warranty.

We have decided to stay a second night at the same campground in Augusta. It’s busier tonight than last night, but we still expect a quiet night of good sleep. I had my first proper shower this morning and was able to blow dry my hair in the en-suite style bathroom.

It was time for a little serious washing and we found our way to the laundromat where I was temporarily stumped by a lack of coins. Eventually, hopefully in my lifetime, we hope that we will be able to always pay by card, but it’s rare at the moment. A nearby Bankwest branch was able to come up with 20 $1 coins, they said they often supply change for the laundromat. As well as clothes I washed our towels and flannels.

There was a cafe nearby and I was able to enjoy morning tea whilst keeping an eye on the laundry about 5 minutes walk away. Stephen went in search of the museum, which was closed, then joined me at the cafe bringing his own paper as the cafe did not have one for him to read.

On the way to the cafe at the local hardware I was able to pick up a universal tap, often needed for access to fresh water and handy for us in case tourist information centres are closed.

Then, we went down to a beach a little past Colourpatch for lunch and a nap.

When we got tired of being lazy we drove out to the Cape to see the lighthouse. We were too late to go in, but spent some time admiring the coastline.

We checked out Flinders Bay on the way back to town.

A quick foray into the IGA for salads and fruit, then back to our campsite. Stephen has had a shower and I’ve done a small amount of washing of delicate stuff, now hanging on the line nearby.

We checked out a little cabin, expensive at $150 per night, but it is lovely. There is a yurt where yoga takes place and some ‘glamping ‘ tents, we don’t know how much they cost per night.

We’ve arranged to meet with Marie and Geoff for lunch at Colourpatch tomorrow. They are staying in Busselton, but don’t mind the drive down here. There is a lot to see and we may stay here another night before moving on to another location.

We stayed two nights at Olive Hill Farm and walked through the beautiful woodlands three times. When we woke up on Sunday we had our morning cuppas, then walked through the woodlands to the river. We felt so laid back that we decided to stay for two nights. We didn’t go anywhere else, just enjoyed being in the shade by the van. We called Matt at around 4.00 pm and had a FaceTime session with the signal cutting in and out. Then we went for another walk down to the river, enjoying the evening light and sense of peace.

This morning we had scones with jam and cream and some socialising with the other campers. Benji, our host, had a little stall with meat, haggis and some cheeses. We bought sausages and cheese. Next time we go I hope we get to hear Benji play the bagpipes. He calls me Susie, which I realise is a Scottish thing, like him being called Benji. We met his mother Jennie walking in the woods a and she told us that the woods were planted 40 years ago by some artist who owned the farm. It was her idea to make the walk through the woods a winding path with labels on the trees and that certainly added to the experience.

We had thought of going to the Berry Farm for morning tea, but even I couldn’t face more treats, so we went into town to dump our toilet, get water and do a little shopping. I was disappointed in the bakery Benji recommended as it was more of a cafe than a place to buy delicious bread. They didn’t have the bread I wanted sliced and didn’t actually do slicing, and it was back to the IGA to buy some sliced rye bread, which is rather nice. Then down to Augusta to park up for our lunch and afternoon rest.

We used to visit a fish and chip shop called Colourpatch in Augusta in the days when we stayed at Vicki’s place in Karridale. We are parked near there at the rivermouth but Colourpatch has been upgraded to a bar/cafe and doesn’t open until Wednesday (closed Mon and Tues) so we may or may not stick around to try it out.

There are a few caravan parks here, but very expensive. There are also a couple of campgrounds with toilets and showers that are a much better price. We have booked into the one without power at $25 per night. The other campground has power and water sites, but may be about $10 more per night.

We had thought of spending a few days in this area, then going to free camp on the beach between Denmark and Albany. Because we have less time than our original plan we decided it would mean too much time on the road and too little time to relax. We’ve decided to explore this region for the rest of our holiday.

I ordered a ridge monkey, a cast iron cooking implement similar to a jaffle iron, highly recommended by English van travellers. It arrived two weeks ago, but spent time at the front house in our block of units due to the neighbour not actually living there and the address being slightly wrong. It is now in the hands of our next door neighbour and I can’t wait to try it out. I had hoped it would arrive in time for this trip and it did, but we didn’t know. It will help with making the most of the more limited cooking facilities in our van.

We have chosen to stay at the Boogaloo Campground here in Augusta. We don’t have power, but there are toilets and showers available and the price is right, $25 rather than at least $40 for caravan parks. We don’t need power, but Stephen is keen to have a full shower after days of just basin washes in the van. I might even go for a shower myself.

Is Augusta always windy? It is in our experience. The advantage of the wind is that even if it is hot, if we are by the sea it stays cool enough in the van. We’ve been sleeping under our warm doona every night so far, and the temperature seems quite cool now, so perhaps we will tonight as well.

A couple more photos from the woodland walk at Olive Farm. It was $20 per night there and well worth it. We almost ran out of drinking water there, we could have bought some drinking water quite cheaply, but only realised when it was getting dark and too late to contact our hosts.

We watched some kite surfing at our park up near Colourpatch this afternoon.

I did a post yesterday with some photos, but it won’t upload at our present location – Olive Hill Farm just out of Margaret River due to slow internet. I will upload it when we are in town later today.

Yesterday we stayed overnight at Busselton Farm. Around this area there are farms and wineries that offer simple camping, without hookups. Some offer more than others in terms of facilities. We spent the afternoon parked up at a beach in Wonnerup just north of Busselton and didn’t want to have too far to drive. We were perfectly happy with our choice until 2.30 in the morning when we were woken up by a strange sound. After a little while we realised we were in range of a sprinkler which was washing along the side of the van. The owners knew we had parked there as one of them came to take our money after we parked up.

Another benefit of our dear little van is that we could easily move, and we did. We went into an adjoining space where there were other vans. It took a little while to get over it and go back to sleep.

Quite a nice spot at Busselton Farm. We had TV reception and watched the news and 7.30 report.

Today we got away late. Our host was unable to actually give us a definite departure time, but we left at about 11.00. No one came to ask why we had changed our position.

Our first stop was to visit Cowaramup.

We had planned to go to Margaret River for morning tea, but were seduced by the little street of cafes, shops and cows. Stephen visited the newsagent and the pharmacy. I went to the French bakery for rolls, etc. then we had coffee at a nice shop full of specialty teas and chocolate. We shared a cream cheese bagel and had our usual hot drinks. My coffee was the best I’ve had so far this trip, but we haven’t been on the road long.

In Margaret River we went to the dump point, a great highlight of our visit to the town where we met up with other RVers. Stephen tried phoning the Tourist Bureau, but couldn’t get through. We wanted to fill up with water. We gave up and went down to Prevelly Beach for lunch and a rest. Stephen finally reached the TB and found they had a fresh water tap we could use so we high tailed it back into town.

Stephen also rang up to book us into Olive Hill Farm for tonight. We arrived here at about 5.00 pm. There is a lovely walk down to the river and we didn’t have time to go all the way after arriving and setting up, but enjoyed walking through the beautiful trees. The sites here have good privacy, are hard stand gravel, and set amongst the olive trees. No hookups, but we can have access to drinking water, a dump point and a laundry service for a small fee each.

I washed our clothes in the kitchen sink. Nothing is dirty, just needs refreshing.

We travelled on our first gravel road for a couple of kilometres to get here. It was pretty bad in spots. Of course, our van is no stranger to gravel roads, just a first for us. We put out the awning for the first time, I had to watch the training video again to work out how, but we feel a sense of achievement.

Later we walked around the farm and eventually found the walk trail to the river. We didn’t go all the way and plan to do that in the morning.