A Change of plans

Well the last entry finished with us waiting for a phone call........
After waiting around for another whole day the phone call never came.  We decided that it would be best to move on.  So on we drove 540kms to Exmouth.  We got there at 6pm and stopped at the first caravan park  (which was a BIG4, and very expensive!!!) We wanted to go into Cape Range and had been told it was limited spots, so we got up early and lined up at the ranger station at 8am.  We only had to wait 20 minutes.  We got a spot in Pilgramunna, which was a caravan spot that only had a max of 9 vans at any one time.  It was right next to the beach. The kids were excited to play on the beach and the boys had a fish.  There was a lot of wildlife, Emus, Kangaroos, Birds and Fish.

We took a drive to look at the Turtle Rookery.  It was amazing, there were hundreds of loggerhead turtles, swimming and coming up onto the beach.  It said to stay at least 3 meters away from them, but as soon as you walked near them they high-tailed it into the water.  The kids had so much fun looking at them and we saw a crab on the way back to the car. Dakota and I both jumped and screamed at the same time as it started to chase us (in its own defence!)  We stopped to have a swim at Turquiose Bay on the way back, the water was an amazing colour, and so warm. Indi was asleep so Roh stayed in the car.  It was crazy to think it was the Indian Ocean.  Everywhere you looked you could see fish.  It is a very popular spot for snorkelling, we didn't get a chance to have a proper snorkel but we will definately go back and stay longer.

Roh had another fish and caught some small fish and some called long Tomms which looked pretty funny (Indi like these) but nothing as big as he thought he would.  We played boche' in the afternoon and swam on the high tide.  We left on Tuesday 1st November (Cup Day) stocked up in Exmouth (the most expensive IGA we have ever been to) and headed for Coral Bay.  It was only a short drive, we got to Coral Bay at about lunch and we were surprised to find the first caravan park shut to watch the Melbourne Cup!!!!  We moved to the next caravan park (The Peoples caravan Park) and that was a nicer park anyway.  It was blowing a gale, so we had a quick play on the beach and then had dinner.  When I was getting the washing of the line I met an 89 yr old lady who was from Victoria travelling with her sun and sleeping under the stars!  I hope that I have that sense of adventure when I'm 89.

The next day we drove on not really knowing where we were going to stay but slowly making our way to Perth.  We stayed at Nerran Nerran a free road side stop. Not much there, the toilets were very stinky, but it seemed a very popular spot for travellers.  We hit our first drops of rain on the 3rd November at about 2pm, we hadn't had rain for about 4 months.  There didn't seem to be many free road side stops from there on the road we were taking so we decided to go along the coast and ended up staying at a really nice spot called 'Sandy Cove Recreational Reserve'  You could only stay up to 4 nights, it was a very popular spot.  As you drove in there was big white sand dunes, they were amazing to see and would have been alot of fun to roll down.  It was a small fee to stay in the Reserve.

We got up and drove along the coast road.  It was a very pretty drive and the sand seemed to change colour 4 or 5 times.  When we go back we will collect samples and make a sand jar.  We stopped at the Pinnacles, which are these funny jaggered rocks poking up out of the sand.  We saw a bobtail lizard and we had a look in the shop/info centre.  We were all hungry but we had run out of snacks, so we spent a small fortune on 2 chocolate bars and shared them.  We continued our drive and pulled into a little town called Lancelin and had some lunch in the park.  After a good run we headed for Port Kennedy.  We had arranged to stay at a friends place, rather than a caravan park.   Darren, Belinda, Levi and Kayla were waiting for us, it is Belinda's cousins place that we are staying at.  It took us ages to get through Perth (later found out there was a big accident) 

We arrived about 4.30pm and parked the caravan in the side yard.  Which was nice, because we weren't sure where we were going to have to have the caravan.  We had chicken and salad for dinner, which was very tasty.  It was great to catch up with Darren and Belinda.  Kelly was home, she is in the Navy and was out at sea.  The next day we cleaned the car and van.  I had kept saying, something smells when ever i was in the caravan, I pulled everything out and found that we had a mouse somewhere in the van.  That night at about 2 in the morning I woke Roh and we spent 1hour trying to catch the thing.  We got hime and then accidently let him go again.  The next day we bought a trap.  That night we found him on the bench top and tried to catch him again.  Roh had a cup ready and i had a container.  But when he jumped at me i jumped back and roh told me I was hopeless!  We finally caught him and then I spent the next 3 hours disinfecting and cleaning out the beds, oven etc.  The van smelt like new once I had finished.

Roh started work on Wednesday 8th, he has to drive 45mins to get there.  I let him keep the car and I have been hanging out with Belinda and the kids.  We have walked to the supermarket, park and the pond to feed the ducks.  Last night we went to their friends place for tea.  They have a lovely new house.  Kids had alot of fun playing with all the toys.  Most supermakets are shut on a sunday but the one Roh is in is open 11-5pm.  He has had a good week so far, I hope all the supermarkets are busy.  Well thats about all we have done.  We'll have a look around Perth on Monday when Roh has a day off.

The Start of a Blog........ Now what????

It has taken me 7 months to start this Blog.  Isn't it always the case that you 'wish' you had of started it sooner.  Dakota turned 5 yesterday, and I thought, wow, my little girl is growing so quickly! It is now 2 months til christmas, which is a little scary to think how quickly the year has gone.  We have however been having a great time.  Suggestion to anyone reading this, life is short, so get out there, see australia, it is an amazing and beautiful place.

Anyway, we are in Karratha at the moment, a very expensive place, unless you work here and then the dollars you can earn are pretty massive.  We have been here for a little over a week.  Roh worked in Woolys selling the personal valets from wed-sat, he pretty much sold out so he had sunday off.  We had an electrical job lined up for 4 weeks, but unfortunately without a W.A electrical license you can't work.  Roh's license is in the system, but will take up to 3 weeks to be processed! They were quick to take the money from our account, not so quick with the number.  Very cheeky I think.  Roh is kicking himself that he didn't apply for the license sooner. 

We are waiting til 5pm tonight for a phonecall.  If the job offer is good enough we will stay for 3 more weeks, if not we will be on the road again, heading for Perth.  Plans keep changing everyday.  We are thinking of coming back after cyclone season, but we'll see.

Ok, a quick recap of the last 7 months:
March - October

• packed up the house and set up the caravan
• Said Goodbye and left the Mornington Peninsula on Tuesday 15th March 2011
• 1 week at the Ballerine Tourist Park, (a nice way to wind down)
• Onto Warrnambool, Nelson and Victor Harbor
• 10 days on Kangeroo Island (expensive to get there, but one of my favourite spots)
• Normanville, McClaren Vale and then 1 week in Adelaide (Met the Westwoods)
• Spent Easter at Port Augusta (advised not to, but we had an ok time, stayed at Big 4)
• 2nights at Rawnsley Park station (just out of Flinders Rangers, another favourite spot)
• Took the Oodnadatta Track from Leigh Creek, to Marree, past Lake Eyre South (got our feet wet!)
• Stayed at Coward Springs (Met the lovely Macmaster family from vic)
• A few days in Coober Pedy (very interesting town) onto Erldunda and then 5 days in Ayers Rock
• Kings Canyon for mothers day, saw our 1st dingo!
• Took the Ernest-giles Track, 100kms of dirty/sandy road. (Roh wasn't really a fan of this road)
• Got to Alice and chilled for 3 nights
• Headed back to Vic for the birth of my nephew 15th May, stayed for a month and then hit the road.
• roh started in-store demos for Woolworths, Portland for a week of training (Caz and Rory visited)
• 1week of work in Victor Harbor, then a wet cold week at West Beach Adelaide
• Made the decision to get to warmer weather, so up the middle we go again!
• 1 week in Port Pirie (interesting town, I think the lead had got to a few people!)
• Pimba, Coober Pedy, Kalgura (Indi turned 2)
• Alice Springs, went bush for 4 nights to save some money.  Trephins Gorge, beautiful spot.
• Big 4 at Alice Springs for a week while Roh Worked (His best week yet!)
• Heading for Darwin, stayed at Taylor Creek rest area, Devils Marbles (another favourite spot), New Castle Waters rest area, Mataranka - Elsey National Park (lots of wild Donkeys at night), Edith Falls
• Free Spirit Caravan park 1 week, Coolalinga Caravan Park 1 week (Caught up with the Westwoods) 
• Stayed with Em and Nick at Adelaide River on a small station for 4 days (Good Fun)
• Back to Free Spirit, Roh's parents came to visit.
• Moved to lee Point Caravan Park for 2 weeks, Roh worked
• Back to Free Spirit with Em and Nick for 6 nights, Out to Litchfield with em and Nick for 4 nights (bumped into Glenn, Niki and the boys) Said goodbye to the Orchards and headed to Kakadu.
• Spent 3 nights in Jabiru (did a jumping crocodile tour), 2 nights in Katherine ( had to get back of van fixed, turned out to be Roh's cousin fixing it, such a small world)
• El Questro for Roh's Birthday, nice spot, very hot and without power, so no air con!
• 1 night in Kununarra for a swim, some air con and clean clothes.
• Mary River road side stop, bumped into Glenn and Niki again, kids played and we had dinner together.  Another road side and then onto Broome for 4 nights. Swimming, Fishing, Driving on the beach and pizzas on Cable Beach.
• 2 nights at Barnhill Station, 10kms of dirt road but a lovely spot, 80 mile Beach Caravan park for 2 nights. More driving on the beach and the kids enjoyed shell collecting. Weird dead sea creature found?????
• Port Hedland for 1 week, Roh back to work.  Kids and I spent lots of time with the Worthingtons.  Port Hedland is an ugly place from the outside, but we saw turtles nesting, Stairway to the moon, turtles swimming, did a free kite making weekend and played at lots of parks, as well as seeing some very, very big boats coming into the Harbor. 
• And that brings us to Karratha.........

Wow, that was a lot.  But if anything it is good to have a record for my self.  So I will end todays log with the pending news of a phone call...... had better go and pack some things just in case..... oh and maybe have a swim!!!