Stunning SW WA to roasting in the North

Wow told you it was catch up time-- feel free to skim afterall who has time for 2 blogs in a week. We will use this as our diary of the trip once home hence I am been ott not to skip stuff- but skip away if you like.

After Kalgoorlie we headed for Perth and had about 2 wks there getting odd jobs done, resting and awaiting my parents arrival.

Mum and Dad came across and travelled for 10days with us from Perth down thru the wheatbelt east of Perth to Esperance on the coast and round the bottom to back to Perth.

We did the tourist things in Perth:

-We saw Kings Park with it's stunning views of the city and array of beautiful and unusual plants that would interest even the not so botanically minded


- Viewed the Bell Tower. Mum and Dad had a tour and bell ringing opportunity and Neil looking all buff :) got asked by the ladies to help wind up the clock tower- a heavy task (truth be known I couldnt even move the winder (not that that says much))


- Went to the fire museum, factory outlets, malls, free bus tours etc.

From Perth we went across the wheatbelt- interestingly the wheat stubble was much sparser that we saw up Nth NSW. The country was pretty rocky and we saw some iconic rocks- namely Wave Rock, Hippo Rock and some aboriginal rock art.

Esperance was next. The weather was wet and overcast but we found the beautiful coast in the National Park out of town. This poser kept getting in my scenic photo's- but you get the idea:
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The coast the whole way along the coast was stunning and remarkably we had good weather. A few years ago when I visited I lived in a trackpants, froze to death and nearly got blown away by the Southerlies- weather that is normal for this area. I asked one guy whether their were any BBQ's nearby to which he responded that on any other day 'my sausages would be blown off before they'd be cooked so they didnt bother installing any'. Guess we struck it lucky this time :).
(One of the few pictures of Neil and I together- the joy of having my parents as travel companions).
They have the most amazing Karri and Red Tingle forrest along the coast- the trees are huge and gnarly and rather old. Dad and Neil did a tree top skywalk about the forrest- well they were 40 metres up but the trees were 70 metres plus tall so it was more of a mid forrest walk.
(Bring back the old blogger where I knew how to rotate photo's- apols).
We checked out the gourmet options in Margaret River- starting with the old English lolly shop.

Feeding rays in the wild was a real highlight- a local let us know that the rays came into the bay daily and were quite people friendly (aka bribed by the daily offal feeds they got from the local fisherman. The rays came right up to us, brushed against our legs and even got a pat (they are slimy). Neil got to feed them. I had no idea how big they got- they ones here totally dwarfed the rays we are used to over east. Probably the big boys were 1-1.5 metres in diameter and then had tails about 75-100cm long. The barb actually sticks out the side on the tail about 1/4 of the way back from the tip of the tail.

My (Naomi) wonderful Nan (Mum's Mum) passed away shortly after Mum and Dad left Perth. She was quite a character and I have very fond memories. This pick definately depicts her character for all who knew her- always having or causing a laugh.

From Perth we headed North to Geraldton, the Pinnacles, Kallbarri and then Carnarvon. In Geraldton we picked up some extra weight- in the form of a Red and Yellow Beacon- as if our roof wasnt loaded enough already. We could have picked up assylm seekers from Sri Lanka too. Though whilst they knocked on many windows of houses in Geraldton whilst we were their they apparently weren't interested in our home- the lovely caravan- maybe it seemed a little cosy after the boat trip- whatever the case we got no knocks and only knew about the drama unfolding under our noses due to the radio reports.

The Pinnacles
Kalbarri

We are currently in Carnarvon. It is so so hot and the weather up north isnt looking like improving anytime soon! We have enjoyed some good fishing. I caught a yummy parrot fish (a pretty fish too)- the good ol handline came through again and in my fast (impatient) style of fishing Neil and I brought in more Bream than we could count and barely went a minute without a bite. Neil was going for the unusual- catching a coral trout and about 3 other fish we had never seen before- if in doubt chuck it back.

Yay I am off the hook- we are finally up to date- better late than never :)