photographyperthwa

Yanchep and Two Rocks – Friday August 1st, 2025

Last Friday there was a break in the rain and we decided to follow up Stephen’s idea of taking a train up to Yanchep. We didn’t get up early, or even fully commit to going, until we were just about to leave. It was not only clear and sunny, but not as cold as it has been, so perfect weather.

The journey involes a bus to the city, then a train up to the Yanchep station, then a bus to the beach and cafe for lunch. It was disappointing to find that the station is sort of in the middle of nowhere. There is also no bus into the Yanchep National Park, a very strange omision, given that it is fairly close by.

The bus ride into the township is ideal as it goes to the main swimming area, a logoon of protected beach, plus a great cafe. We took some photos and then went to the cafe for lunch. It worked out that I ordered a toastie and Stephen ordered a Thai Beef Salad and the kitchen served them about 20 minutes apart. So, it turned into an entre and main course as a shared meal. Followed up by a shared slice of cake. And two hot drinks each over the hour and a half at the cafe.

There was also the possibility of going to Two Rocks, a nearby suburb, and as we still felt like exploring after the long lunch, we took the bus back to the station and then took another bus to Two Rocks. So glad we did as the bus dropped us off at the little shopping centre next to the marina, and we enjoyed walking along to one of the two Rocks. I’d forgotten, if I ever knew, that this rock is quite beautiful, with an arched window. The marina is certainly new, and comes very close to the rock, I hope it doesn’t affect it in any way.

There was some anxiety about getting back to the Yanchep Station as Stephen hadn’t been able to find a timetable where we were dropped off. Turns out you go through the carpark back to the main road. Whilst we waited for about half an hour for the bus we rang Matt to confirm his Sunday night visit.

Getting back into the city was quite a shock. We had to come up to street level to walk across to the bus station and the noise level was incredible. Raine Square was really hopping and there were people on the balcony of the pub across the road drinking and talking very loudly. As well, there was music. We were glad to get underground to catch our bus.

Map at Yanchep Station

Stephen has drawn a map showing that if our journey had been in Gaza we would have ended up in Israel. That’s how small it is.

Wednesday 30th July, 2025

Our overnight in Glen Forrest was Friday 25th July, so it has taken a few days for me to get around to writing it up. This was our third time of going to a Wildflower Society talk in Glen Forest and staying overnight in the carpark. We expected it to go smoothly, and it did.

We arrived in Glen Forrest at about 5.00 p.m. and went to the carpark to make sure there were no ‘no camping’ signs. Then we went and parked up near the Octagonal Hall and heated up some leftovers as our evening meal.

The meetings start at 7.00 p.m. and we were in plenty of time. The speaker, Yolanda Keeble, has done a three year survey of the flora and fauna of the Wongan Hills region. This was of interest to us as we have visited Wongan Hills a couple of times for their wildflower festival. It was very interesting to find out more about the local area.

There are a few wildflowers here in Glen Forrest at the moment.

She is planning a wildflower walk on Saturday the 13th September. We were planning a short wildflower trip with Marie and Geoff, and after exploring some options with them we’ve decided to go to Wongan Hills for four nights and possibly do the walk with her. It works out well for them as it’s a fairly short time and the accommodation for Glenn is suitable and not as expensive as other options.

And we love the area and it will be good to go there in September for the first time as when we’ve been to the Wildflower Festival it’s been very hot.

We bought her book on the survey and it makes a suitable birthday present for Stephen. We’ve had one celebration with Matt on Saturday night, went to see Fame, the musical at Penros College on his actual birthday yesterday, and will have another celebration this coming Sunday. Matt bought a food hamper for Stephen that includes two cakes, so we have taken it as a sign that we should have two celebrations.

We haven’t experience a mid winter at home for a while, and it happens that we are having a really good winter this year, very cold and lots of heavy rainfall. I love it as I can’t bear the hot summer weather unless I’ve had a fair bit of really cold weather. But, it was very cold in our loft bed in the Sherwood and I just couldn’t get warm enough. We had two options, one was to put the heating on again and the other was to try using a double sleeping bag on top of our doona. We tried the sleeping bag option and were soon toasty warm.

We slept in until 8.00 a.m. the next morning. Once again the heating went on and we had our morning cup of tea and washes, then headed out on the walking trail that comes through the village. Then it was back to the cafe for breakast. We ordered a big breakfast to share and they divided the food onto two plates, always much appreciated as this doesn’t always happen. We were sitting outside as it was full inside, but managed to find a sheltered spot, with lots of interesting things to watch, parents, children and dogs.

After breakfast we went for another little walk and found a running stream. Then we went home, arriving at about 12.30 I think. Matt was coming a bit after 4.00 p.m. and we needed time to unpack and rest a bit.

There is a bit of work involved in going away for a night, but well worth it.

We shot some video on this trip and I’ve just finished editing this final version. Hopefully final version. Finding good music that suits the subjects is tricky, though I just asked for dolphin music for the Monkey Mia section and it came up with some lovely options. Thank you EpidemicSound.

Wednesday 3rd to Friday 5th July, 2025

We ended up staying an extra hour in Latham. We were driving down the street trying to find the beginning of a nature walk when we spoke to a local. She thought we were looking for wildflowers, though we knew it was much too early, but she ended up inviting us to her property. She and her husband bought the Latham School and have been converting it into a home, with lots of outbuildings.

She started with the outbuildings, which had their roofs torn off in the cyclone a few years ago. they have kept some things, such as the toilets, playground and basketball court, and built a couple of inviting outdoor areas. But, it was when we walked into the house that we were really impressed. They have converted three classrooms into a kitchen/dining room, loungeroom and bedroom. The living areas are gorgeous, huge, with modern fixtures and fittings, but also very comfortable and homely. I could have moved in.

She told us stories about her past, it turns out she renovated a couple of old hotels in Kalgoorlie, so has experience with doing up old buildings. Of course, they hire workmen, but the design and ideas come from her. She told us about her six children, sadly her two youngest have died, and her life with a drunken husband, who she left, and her life raising the children. Maureen is her name, a tiny woman, quite amazing.

We needed to have an overnight on power as we weren’t getting enough solar to really recharge the batteries, and had decided on Dalwallinu. By the time we arrived there it was raining and very cold and windy, so we did a minimum of outside setting up and then had lunch.

Stephen did some research on the town and when we were leaving we dropped by the cemetary to visit the grave of a famous builder and farmer. It was sunny at that time, but still very cold. I’m hoping he’ll fill you in more about the person in the comments.

For our last night we headed towards the Wannamal Rest Area. On the way we stopped in at the Miling General Store and enjoyed hot drinks and talking with Maud, who is a French backpacker.

We asked her about the fish in the aquarium, they were tiny and very colourful and lively, I thought they might not be real. However, she immediately gave Stephen some fish food, which he sprinkled on the water and made them even more lively than they had been before. She came and chatted with us when she was free of other customers. Turns out it was her last day in the job and she was then heading off to Queensland to do some travelling with her mother.

From Miling we travelled to Moora, coming into the town a different way from our usual entry. We had thought there was only one supermarket and one cafe, but no, there is a French restaurant, a Foodworks which has a cafe, and another cafe in a sidestreet. We’ve stayed at the free overnight camping a couple of times, but things tend to be closed in the evenings, so that is perhaps why we hadn’t explore more of the town. We had a meal at the hotel once when we were travelling with Marie and Geoff.

Anyway, we had a beautiful lentil soup at the French restaurant before going to the Foodworks for food for our evening meal. We then wandered around the town a bit and had our afternoon tea at the CumQuat Mae cafe.

Then on to Wannamal. There are no wildflowers at this time of the year and the little stream was dry, so it wasn’t as pretty as usual. However, there are some good camping spaces and the flushing toilets make for a comfortable overnight.

Of course, it was necessary to visit the Bakehous in Bindoon on our way through. They have soup in winter, so we could make a comparison with the French cafe’s soup. Not as good, but we were still glad of it. We also bought one of their nice soughdough loaves and resisted the cakes.

Rather than take the main road back to the city we took the Chittering Valley Road through to Bullsbrook. It’s so beautiful in that region in winter. At Bullsbrook we had a icecream, a bit of a strange choice on a cold day, but refreshing. Stephen reminded me that we had gone to an airshow with Marie, Geoff, Robyne and Chris one year, and had coffee at the Cheques Hotel first. I wonder if anyone else remembers this, I certainly don’t.

We have come home a bit early as it looked like Saturday would be rain free, with Sunday and Monday being very wet, especially Monday, which was our original day to arrive home. It seemed very cold in the house when we arrived, but on the whole it feels warmer here than our last few days and nights on the road.

Our batteries were in need of charging when we left Ellendale Pool. The place where we spent our second night was good for the view, but not good for solar and the Starlink. They both worked, but not as well as they might have. Anyway, in winter, with low sun, short days and sometimes cloud, solar is not our main charging source. We then depend on the DCDC charger, which works well if you drive far enough.

On our last morning at Ellendale Pool a young couple decided to swim across the pool, climb the cliff and jump off. There are warning signs about the dangers of swimming, but in cold weather, and the water pretty icy, the danger is probably less. Also, there is some flow in the river. Anyway, I thought they were pretty brave. The girl was going to do it on her own, but the boy then decided that he didn’t want her to be alone and followed her. The water is very deep near the cliff fortunately.

We left late in the morning and drove I think about 100kms. The thing that kept me going was the thought of the bakery at Mingenew. We enjoyed pasties and shared a walnut slice with hot drinks. Yumm!

We topped up with water (I had dumped the toilet at Ellendale Pool) and headed for Yandanooka Hall. We parked on blue metal as there was rain forecast.

It was too cloudy for star gazing and we felt really tired for some reason, so we just rested after arriving there.

It rained overnight, not heavily, but enough to wake us up. In the morning the sky cleared and we had a sunny couple of hours. Stephen didn’t realise that we had to keep driving for the batteries, so he was relaxed indeed.

We chose the village of Latham because there is free camping at the community centre, with toilets and showers. They ask for a donation and we were happy to do it was it’s a good facility. We had stopped at Morowa for shopping and I cooked salmon, potatos, tomotos and sugar snap peas in the electric frying pan. I’d charged up the Ecoflow power station whilst we were driving and we’ve had enough power for boiling the kettle a few times and for the half an hour or so of cooking. Mind you, I connected it to the house batteries via an Anderson plug whilst cooking, just to make sure.

Last night and this morning we had very heavy rain and were glad to have chosen to be on blue metal again, rather than seeking a more private spot in the large area near the hall. This morning there are puddles everywhere, but especially on the unpaved area. The rain came with strong winds and it was this that woke us up.

Again, this morning we’ve had some blue sky and sunshine. The right sort of rain really, overnight so it doesn’t inconvenience us.

We’ve decided to arrive home on Saturday, when the weather in Perth should be fine, rather than Monday, which promises to be very wet. We are quite close to home and just staying out a little longer because we don’t want to go home quite yet.

There were trucks here last night, the drivers taking advantage of the shower facilities. I expect they donate to the upkeep as well and it’s very handy for them.

We were only going to spend one night at Horrocks, but we rather fell in love. We had rather hoped we would have a view of the sea, but apparently those spots were booked in advance. It didn’t really matter. We booked a second day anyway.

On arrival we were quite hungry and went to the General Store, which is really more of a cafe and had fish tacos and hot drinks. In the afternoon we took a bit of a walk along a path by the sea, and thought that we would do a beach walk in the morning.

In the morning we found out why there were large sandbags against the shoreline, the normal tide comes right up to the edge, meaning there isn’t a beach until low tide.

We went for a bit longer walk along the path to enjoy the sunset. It was partly cloudy, which made for quite a beautiful view from a lookout point, strategically placed to make the most of it. Well done Horrocks!

We bought a frozen meal for our tea, taking advantage of the camper’s kitchen next door which has many appliances, including a microwave. It was a single meal and we added extra veggies.

I had done one load of washing after we arrived and did another on the second day. We have managed to half fill our washing bag again already.

Saying goodbye to Horrocks made us feel sad. We have worked out how far it is from Perth, just in case we want to pop up there some other time. It’s a combination on pleasant aspect, many nice homes, both old and new, and it doesn’t seem to attract many tourists, just people passing through, like us.

I have wanted to go to Ellendale Pool for a couple of years now. It’s not far from Geraldton on the Grenough river. The landscape is reminescent of Coalseam National Park. On the way we stopped in at Northampton for shopping and to visit a cafe. The drive itself was much longer than it should have been because of a road closure at Walkaway. Still, we were able to visit a vast wind farm on the way.

We have just moved from our original spot this morning as most caravans and vans have left and we had more of a choice. Our rear wheels are up on ramps to make us fairly level. Happy.

Our plan is to stay here tonight, then go to Mingenew for the water and dump points, then back to Yandanooka Hall in hopes of seeing some stars. There is light rain forecast for tomorrow and we don’t know if the skies will be clear enough, but it’s a good spot, level, with flushing toilets. We have flushing toilets here as well, plus bins, picnic tables and shelters, and some established walk. We went on one of the walks yesterday evening.

Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th June, 2025

Well, waking up in our camping spot at Glenna Bridge was  one of those magical experiences that we hope for when we are travelling. Before sunrise there was lots of wildlife on the river, including many black swans. With a gentle, rising mist it was quite breathtaking.

Our first stop on our journey yesterday was at the Kalbarri Skywalk. We arrived at lunchtime and decided to eat before looking around. 

As we sat at a table we were joined by another travelling couple and talked with them for about 45 minutes whilst we all had lunch. They had done a track with a group of other people and found it a wonderful experience. They were heading off to see Mt Augustus and the Kennedy Ranges next. They sleep in a tent, which makes life very simple, but it wouldn’t be our cup of tea these days, though we’ve done so in the past. They are about my age I think.

Then we wandered around between the two skywalks, taking photos and generally enjoying the experience.

On our way to our next campsite we called in at the IGA in Kalbarri for a couple of important items, then went to the dump point which has a separate potable water point, a necessary step as Lucky Bay Campground does not have any water.

The road in is supposed to be 4WD only, but of course on arrival here we saw a little camper van tucked away in a corner. The road had lots of small potholes, a few light corrugations and some areas where there was water over the road, but not deep. So, well done to the camper van.

After settling in we went for a walk down to the beach to watch the sunset. We paid for one night at the ranger station on our way in, but have decided to stay two nights as it seems worthwhile.

Today we’ve walked about 2.5kms up the beach to a lagoon. The beach is long and wide and fairly firm, so good for driving on, though we haven’t attempted it. The only tricky part is the access point where the road is roughed up as vehicles make the turn onto the beach section.

Still, we felt good about walking, it was quite a long walk for us, 5kms return, but it feels satisfying. Although it is sunny here and I didn’t wear a jumper on the walk, Stephen did, and took a coat as well. It was fine in the sun, but when I sat in the shade opposite the lagoon it was a bit chilly.

We stayed out there for quite a while.

There are whales passing this beach and with the help of Stephen’s binoculars we could see one clearly, and other possible whales further out.

Before going out I cooked up a soup for our thermal cooker. You have to make sure everything is very hot before putting it into the outer pot, which I heated up with boiling water. It wasn’t ready when we got back for lunch, so we will have it for our evening meal.

I forgot to mention that our inverter has failed. This happened a couple of nights ago after I had been cooking in the electric frying pan. Our electric kettle only draws about 900watts, but it was whilst using it that the inverter shut down. The next morning, this was at Nerren Nerren, we took everything off the benches so that we could take a look. We have a remote button, but I also tried switching the physical button on and off, plus there appears to be a reset button, which didn’t work either.

So, we’ve reverted to using the gas stove, which is a pain as, once we open the cover, it takes up most of the bench space and it’s difficult to prepare food. We have an Ecoflow power station, which I am using for things that I can’t do on the stove, such as charging this laptop and blow drying my hair. We can recharge it from an Anderson plug whilst driving, but it does take away from charging the house batteries. Even if we aren’t using house battery power for cooking and boiling the kettle we still need it for all of our 12V appliances, such as the fridge, the hot water ignition, the diesel heater fan and the Starlink mini.

It seemed quite a long drive to Monkey Mia on Friday. The scenery was more beautiful than I remembered, but perhaps the amazing cloudscapes helped. It was raining heavily at first, we just managed to get out of the car for photos at the sign between showers. But, later, the showers were more intermittent and our arrival in Denham coincided with sunshine. It is certainly very pretty indeed.

We fuelled up before driving the last 25kms or so to Monkey Mia. At the entrance you pay for access to the park, this is in addition to our previous payment for the accommodation. We have about a $20 discount for the accommodation due to RAC membership. At $54 per night with the discount it is very reasonable for a tourist hot spot. We paid about the same at the Coral Coast Caravan Park in Carnarvon, plus the cost of the ensuite there, another $20 per night.

Our pitch here is a long way from the main buildings and we are getting plenty of exercise walking to and fro. Of course, we got up early enough to get to the Dolphin Experience at 7.45 a.m. yesterday morning. There was quite a long wait for the dolphins to arrive, but eventually they swam close.

Then they were off chasing fish in another part of the bay. Stephen had the patience to wait and eventually they came back for the feeding. I saw this happen, but had defected to get a coffee, so was further away. Fortunately my camera has a long lens. The staff doing the feeding often got in the way of shots, so didn’t get very much.

We have a second chance tomorrow morning before we leave. 

We had quite a storm, with strong winds, last night, but this morning was sunny and the water was completely calm, so I think we were very fortunate. The wind came up again by late morning and it’s cloudy, with some very light showers.

I’ve done two loads of washing, one last night of our towels and other linen, drying it in the dryer, and one this morning and hanging the clothes both inside and outside the van. It always causes me anxiety, will I manage to get a machine, then will I manage to get a dryer.

We had lunch at the restaurant, the only one, at Monkey Mia. We shared a toastie, followed by hot drinks and a slice of chocolate mud cake. I ordered an Aporal Spritz, delicious, and we shared that as well.

In the afternoon Stephen spent time in the Dolphin interpretive centre whilst I had a rest.

We had a light dinner of hard boiled eggs and salad.

This morning (Sunday) we had to be packed up by 10.00 a.m. So, we worked steadily to get ready to leave by about 9.30 a.m. so that we could try to see the dolphins again. We were very fortunate. They had not been in to shore earlier, whilst we were busy, but came after we had waited with everyone else for about 45mins. We stood on the jetty instead of on the sand and it gave us a really good view of the whole process. Very satisfying.

One female dolphin hung around for quite a whilst the guide was giving us information. The guide spoke very kindly to her and my impression was that she was very attached to this person, perhaps because of her manner. I have some video that better illustrates the relationship, but it needs processing and I will post later, or perhaps when we get home.

Afterwards we had hot drinks and shared a muffin before going on one of the local walks to a lookout.

We set off for Denham where we wanted to do some shopping to cover the next few days. After the shopping we parked with a view of the bay and had lunch.

I had booked a camp site in one of the bays on the road out to the Highway. It turned out to be not the best choice, and we are not actually in the sloping campsite we booked, but on the road. However, we checked and this road appears to be purely for our campsite and we have relaxed and settled into this place.

We have much better views from this position as well.

This evening we had a long chat with Matt who appears to be quite happy.