When It's Over, It's Over

Having a few problems with the trailer battery – I think it may be on the way out. The solar regulator was beeping at us all night, even though there was no load on the battery. Sigh!


We left Ravenswood at 09:00AM hoping to avoid the freeway traffic. This worked out pretty well and we were home just after 10:00AM.

Spent the day washing, cleaning, and sourcing and replacing bolts for the bash plates on the Silverado. Then rotated through another spare tyre to sideline "El-Slasho".

All done. Holiday over.

Beer-O’clock.

Homeward Bound

We departed Parrys about 0930 after a restless night. Lost another bolt from the bash plates enroute, so some work to do when we get home.

Took the Quinninup diversion around Manjimup and stopped at St Thomas’ Anglican Church circa 1865. More back roads and beautiful scenery and some great farm machinery relics.

Stopped to pray the bash plates don't fall off

Destination was originally Brunswick Junction, but decided to press on to Ravenswood by the Murray River between Mandurah and Pinjarra. Camped by the river and Paddy made lots of new friends.

Paddy and his new friends

Pretty hot tonight- time for some more “Coupling” on the last of our battery power. Had a beer at the pub and Margaritas at sundown.

Only one hour from home so planning on a 0900 departure to miss the traffic.

The End is Nigh

Took the lovely Doris to Albany for a hair appointment while I wandered around aimlessly amusing myself looking for an internet cafe. In the end, I gave up and went for a drive. It was the Ulysses Club AGM that day - motorcycles and sidecars everywhere.

Picked up my "new" wife and then a light lunch. After lunch we stopped by Middleton Beach for a walk along the boardwalk. Stopped at Dog Rock for the obligatory photo – HORROR! They have painted a collar around the base of the rock (for the dummies).

Dog Rock, Albany

On the way back to camp we stopped at Denmark for LPG where the driveway attendant (yes it is a full service garage) left the cap off the filler, so we had to go back and get a replacement.

Stopped at Green Pool for a walk along the beach and then took a firebreak trail in the SIlverado looking for beach access (to no avail). It would be so much quicker back to Parrys via Mazzoletti Beach with the inlet being cut off, but alas we had to go via the black-top.

Called in at the toffee place for some goodies on the way home.

Aired down when we arrived at Parrys to drive the length of Mazzoletti Beach. It gets pretty soft and narrow as you get closer to William Bay. We chickened out and turned around as we had no back-up in the event we became bogged.

We have decided to leave tomorrow and head to Bunbury to pick up a couple of bolts for the under body bash plates. I noticed they were missing when airing up the front tyres. Looks like we lost them on the beach this arvo.

We have packed away the awning, ground sheets and shower/toilet tent so should be a fairly quick getaway in the morning. I have tied-up the front bash plates as best I can with what I have; so hopefully we will make the 4 hour trip to Bunbury without incident.

Marron, Lamb & Redback Spiders

Lazy start today – (intentionally) forgot to pack lunch.

Off to Peaceful Bay for some 4x4 action around Point Irwin. Included Soft Beach, Groper Point, Kingi Rock, Castle Rock, Diamond Rock and The Gap.

Point Irwin

Diamond Rock, Pt Irwin

Stopped at Old Kent River Winery for a luncheon feast of marron & lamb. Dessert was exceptional. The French waiter has his eye on Doris, I think. He might end up as marron food.

Mmmm-arron

Staggered back to camp for a nap then a 1 hour beach walk along Mazzoletti Beach.

Started heating water for showers only to run out of gas – quick 50km return journey to Denmark for replacement gas bottle arriving back right on dark. I think we got the last gas bottle on offer. It came with a free red back spider the size of a small watermelon; but on the bright side - I got to buy some bright ales!

Mr Bean Runs Out of Beer

Today started with an embarrassing Mr Bean moment in the toilet cubicle. Took my own roll of paper, as usual, and sat there fiddling with the roll. Just as the moment of need approached, I dropped the roll (holding the end sheet) and the roll rolled (as you would expect) out of the cubicle under the door. Fortunately, there was only one other person around, but it must have looked pretty funny.

Off to Denmark for supplies – fuel, food, bait etc. FORGOT TO GET BEER! Went fishing at Eagles Nest (without beer = no fish). It was very relaxing regardless. The beach was pretty soft though – 13psi and still fairly heavy going. The track out there was a bit softer than last year as well. Kangaroo Valley only produced a single sighting, although their tracks were everywhere. No snakes today. Yippee!

Chillin' at Eagle's Nest - our private beach

Doris had noticed one of the tyres had a gash in the sidewall while we were airing down so a wheel change was required when we got back to camp. Now we are reliant on a suspect spare for the rest of the trip – fingers crossed.

S#!t Happens

5’sies was at 4:30 as it was a big day. Margaritas to start and then some wine (STILL NO BEER).

A sunset walk along Mazzoletti Beach to see what the anglers weren’t catching. It is hard as a rock, so will try a drive along it tomorrow maybe; seeing as the inlet is cut.

Garlic prawns for dinner and then some “Coupling” – the TV show – you’ve got a dirty mind!

Not sure there is anywhere I'd rather be

Silverado to the Rescue!!!

An interesting day – 4x4 trek through the Quarram Nature Reserve visiting Boat Harbour, Little Quarram, Middle Quarram & Big Quarram beaches & finally a spectacular view from Rope Hill. The Dune crossing was a bit tricky on the way back as there was an off-camber turn halfway up the hill. I wouldn't recommend going out there without a second vehicle. It is pretty remote and there is the potential for difficulty with the dune crossing on the way out.

The start of the dune crossing to Big Quarram

(there's a nasty off-camber turn at the bottom of this first hill)

We came across some nice (but clueless) yanks that had gotten themselves in some fair degree of difficulty having fallen off the track in the middle of nowhere; they were pretty lucky we came along as it is not a very well travelled track and they could have been out there for some time. As it was, they were already stuck there for a couple of hours when we came to the rescue. A bit of 4by recovery practice for us anyway and they were very grateful. They had absolutely no recovery gear – not even a compressor. We didn't see another vehicle all day out in the reserve.

The Rescue in Progress

There was some spectacular scenery on this trek and we even encountered another deadly reptile – a dugite this time. I couldn’t stop in time so I ran him over, but it was on a soft sandy track and he slithered off, so I think he will survive OK. He does look a bit "flat" in the middle though.

Dugite with a bit of a flat-spot

Rope Hill

Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

A Bridge Too Far

The weather turned a bit sour tday. No rain, but cloudy & blustery. We decided to go to Ducketts (on Scotsdale Rd) for lunch. A big cheese platter with some local wine.

After lunch we drove a section of the Nornalup to Denmark Heritage Trail until we went a bridge too far. Some expert reversing required which nicely unwound some transmission wind-up accumulated over the last few days.

A Bridge Too Far

Returned to Parry Beach for a nap and then an hour walk to Pt Hillier and surrounds where Doris tried to step on a tiger snake – always a bad idea.

Back in time for 5sies relaxing under our shiny new awning.
Still stuffed from lunch, but managed a light dinner after a hot shower in our own personal ablutions block.

Movie time - some steamy, foreign thing we recorded before we left home. Wink, Wink.

Tiger Snakes and Blowholes

We reluctantly departed the opulent facilities at Ocean Beach for the more austere facilities at Parry Beach. As usual, the "Camp Full" sign was out, but we drove in and found a spot pretty quickly. It did involve some tight reversing, dodging the peppermint trees.

Campsite at Parry Beach

Parrys is a great campsite. It is on the Bibbulmun Track and can accommodate large rigs. There are solar heated showers, flushing toilets, and fresh water suitable for showering (not potable without boiling). The canopy provided by the peppermint trees provides fantastic shade and you are only one row of dunes behind Mazzoletti Beach.

On arrival, one of the other campers informed us that we had a tiger snake for company that was resident in the scrub beside our campsite (probably why it was vacant). Not to worry - I have an angry shovel.

We headed into Albany after setting up camp so Doris could make a hair appointment for the following week - a bit of pampering in the midst of camping. We stopped at the Brig Amity for lunch and then headed for the Torndirrup Peninsula to visit The Gap, The Natural Bridge, The Blowholes, Stony Hill and the Salmon Holes before heading back to Parrys.

The Natural Bridge, Albany

Pretty stuffed by the end of the day, so a couple of episodes of Coupling then off to bed.

The Holiday Picks Up Steam

We departed Shannon and left those wretched march flies behind. It was such a shame as the campground and general area is fantastic. We just happened to be there in that few weeks where a plague occurred. Such is life.

It was an easy 2 hour drive to Ocean Beach Caravan Park in Denmark. What a fantastic facility. New ablutions block including new laundry equipment, nice shady sites and the best fed kangaroos around. Some of the bucks were enormous. Kookaburras all over the place. At $30 per night for the two of us, it was at the rich end of the scale, but well worth the $$$.

Ocean Beach Caravan Park

We stayed there to take the opportunity to have 240V power and charge everything up as well as have a nice hot shower and do some washing.

I spotted a sandy track near the caravan park and we decided to investigate. It wasn't signposted at all, but lead us to a timber stairway which descended to a beach we later identified as Back Beach. The stairway seems to be unmaintained. Perhaps this was originally meant to be on the Bibbulmun Track, but has been bypassed? Not sure, but it is a lovely beach not far from lights Beach.

Back Beach

We went for a twilight stroll around Wilson Inlet which turned into a bit of a mission. We ended up walking a lot further than we intended and made it back to the trailer just after dark. We did get to witness seagulls sourcing food naturally in shallow pools at the inlet. They do a bizarre kind of tap dance, I assume to get small crabs to surface, so they can grab them. I'm just used to seeing these flying rats begging for food, so it painted them in a different light to see them hunting for food in the natuarl way.

Margaritas as usual and watched some videos. Moving on to Parry Beach tomorrow.

Windy Harbour

Farewell to our friends from West Coast 4x4 Club as they head back to drudgery. We've got a holiday to enjoy.

Staying one more night in Fly City at Shannon to spend some time with our friends Anne & David, before continuing south to the coast.

We escorted Anne & David to Windy Harbour as they had not been to Point D'Entrecasteaux before. I think they were pretty impressed. It is really worth a look and is accessible by sealed road all the way.

Pt D'Entrecasteaux

On the way back we stopped at a local park in Northcliffe beside the old rail line for picnic lunch.

We weren't feeling much like returning to the dreaded march flies just yet, so we took a small diversion to the old mill town of Quinninup and had a cold drink at the tavern before heading back to Shannon for an early night.

Heartbreak or Hidden River?

Heartbreak Crossing - Warren River

A pretty cruisy day today. The 4x4 Club started out as a group for the Heartbreak Trail. A few of us decided that we had enough bouncing around the day before, so we made sure everyone was safely on the other side of Heartbreak Crossing and then our splinter group headed to Hidden River Winery  for a delectable lunch.

Hidden River Wines

Headed back to Shannon after a long lunch and enjoyed a sultry nana-nap.

Margaritas and canapés with the usual suspects that night.